Magic and Mythology
by citrus-shadow
Summary: Two years after the Second Giant War ended, Nico was still alive. He had a good life, a boyfriend, and more importantly, he was happy. But, when Nico is summoned by Hades, he is sent on yet another quest to assist those blessed by Hecate, the witches and wizards, particularly those of Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1 - Another Quest

**Hello!**

**Ok, this is one of my first fanfictions. I originally started posting this on Wattpad, but then discontinued four chapters in. I'm not sure how often I will be updating, so don't expect it to be consistent. Chapter lengths will also vary. I am not sure if all my facts and stuff are right for these two fandoms, so if there are any major mistakes, please feel free to point them out.**

**Thanks! Enjoy reading!**

**\- citrus-shadow**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to the authors Rick Riordan an JK Rowling.**

**Revised/updated 7/16/20 (I know I said edited chapters would come in like June, so I'm very sorry about that)**

Chapter One: Another Quest

Nico POV

Two years after the Giant War had ended, so many things had changed. Percy and Annabeth were in New Rome for college, but were visiting Camp Half-Blood for the summer. Piper and Jason were just finishing high school and planned to have the shrines for the minor gods completed within the year. Hazel and Frank were doing well and Reyna was just grateful to have someone to work with. Leo and Calypso returned on Festus six months after the war ended, and most of everyone took a turn beating Leo up. While I didn't partake, I completely understood those who did. When the two went to Camp Jupiter, the same happened. But, Leo and Calypso were free spirits, so they ended up travelling around the country (and probably further) for most of their time.

I had just turned 16 and the nightmares had become much less often. Last year around Christmas, Will and I started dating and around that time the Seven, Reyna, and Will each talked me repeatedly about how homosexuality wasn't negative and that I should open up (yes, even Frank). It surprised me to realize this, but I was truly happy for the first time in years.

Will and I were sitting in the strawberry fields at Camp Half-Blood one morning, in the middle of July. I leaned into Will's shoulder, smiling at something he said and enjoying the sun, its warmth so different from the shadows I had too much experience with. Suddenly, I gasped as an icy sensation tore through my body. Will immediately went into his doctor-mode.

"Nico?" Will felt my skin, now icy cold, "Is something wrong?"

I shook my head and stood, "It was a summon. My father wants to see me."

Will considered this, then said, "Be careful. I know you can shadow-travel safely now, but _please_ don't do it too much. No skeletons or anything. Don't anger anyone either."

I nodded, knowing that Will wouldn't take no for an answer, and shadow-traveled into Hades' throne room. He regarded me with an expressionless face.

"Hello Nico. It is a pleasure to see you again." My father finally said. I thought about my response carefully, before giving up and saying what came to mind.

"Skip the pleasantries. I was just here last month. What do you want, Dad?" I deadpanned. Hades sighed but explained the situation.

"Well, if you remember, I have mentioned to you those blessed by Hecate. It typically runs in their bloodline, though some of them are born of mortals. Very few of them have a true claim to godly ancestry. They call themselves wizards and witches, which is interpreted different ways in today's mortal culture. Like with the Romans, the Olympians decided centuries ago that they would be kept separate. Now, Hecate is worried about Britain, but dares not request the Olympians permission to intervene. There is a quest for you that Hecate has insisted upon. You must go and protect this one boy, the Chosen One, from a corrupt wizard known as Voldemort. They have their own prophecy:

_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches_

_Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies_

_And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not_

_And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives_

_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies"_

I thought it over, committing it to memory, and nodded. As much as I liked having a simple life, I knew one of the gods would come up with another quest. I was just relieved that it was my father, as opposed to one of the other immortals who didn't care quite so much about my survival. I was pretty sure that was most of them.

"That's the basic premise of your quest. The Dark Lord the prophecy speaks of has cheated death for years, something that Thanatos reminded me of last summer, when the wizard regained a proper body. Neither of us are quite happy with that, but we can not interfere and kill him directly. So, the Chosen One must live to fulfil this prophecy. I have sensed danger in his near future and Hecate put too much faith in the boy's judgement and ability. He came close to death just a few months ago. So, Hecate and I, well Hecate mostly, thought it best that he be looked after. This boy is at a wizarding school in Britain known as Hogwarts. He is starting his sixth year out of seven this fall, and you shall join his year. There are four houses and you will be sorted into one. Hecate will make sure you understand before reaching the school.

"You will also have a cover story provided by Hecate. She said you will be an exchange student from America. I believe America does have its own wizarding community and a school called Ilvermorny, but don't bring that into your story, as it may bring about questions you can't answer. You are not to reveal your identity or past, unless there is someone you truly trust. Knowing you, I think you will be able to make this choice. There shouldn't be any demigods at the school, though maybe a few legacies of gods. You may have two demigods join you, preferably around your age."

"Will and Reyna," I said immediately. Hades considered my choices. He knew about Will and me dating, though he never seemed to mind, which I was grateful for. To be completely honest, he probably cared less about my being gay than I did.

"Will Solace is fine; he's 17 but can be passed off as 16 to be in your year. Though Reyna… The Roman praetor is, well, _Roman_. Her gods will have to approve this mission. Being praetor, she may not have the time to spare. According to her age, she should have just graduated, which we can work around. It is only that she would be in the seventh year."

I nodded in understanding. "If it is too difficult, then just Will is fine as well." I briefly considered Hazel, but I didn't want her to get dragged into another quest, especially not one without Frank and that would take an entire school year.

"Three is better for a quest, but if you insist, then very well. You will have some supplies to get and some research to do. There is much to learn about their culture. Hecate will be at Camp Half-Blood at this time tomorrow."

With that, Hades got up from his throne, and left. I stared after him for a moment and shadow-traveled away.

•~•~•

"I hope that you don't mind that I signed you up for this," I said, having just finished an explanation of the quest. Will shook his head quickly.

"Of course not. By now, I can't say I'm surprised by the existence of wizards. I just wish that neither of us would have to go. _You,_ I think, have been through too much." Will sighed. I smiled in a way I hoped was reassuring. It probably wasn't.

"I'll be fine, now let's go pack."

We found a list of supplies we would need that Hades left on my bunk, so Will left for the Apollo cabin to pack his own things.

That night, my boyfriend came back with a trunk of belongings. It seemed like he packed more, despite the two of us using the same list as a reference. We curled up on my bunk like we often did. As much as the other demigods teased us, Will and I only ever slept, going no further than kissing and talking.

"You're worried," Will murmured into my hair, "It will be fine. It is only until next summer, then we can go back to normal." I nodded, but didn't smile. Will didn't see my face. We fell asleep like that, in each other's arms, though I still worried about the next year.


	2. Chapter 2 - Notes from the Gods

**Hi!**

**I'm back! Again.**

**So, I decided to post another chapter since I'll be away for a while (Entire July and a bit of June) and also, this chapter is pretty short.**

**Enjoy!**

**Revised/updated 7/16/20 **

Chapter Two - Notes from the Gods

Nico POV

The next morning, we woke early to make sure we had everything that we needed. Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Calypso (the two were visiting again, I could never keep track of their whereabouts), Chiron, and most of camp were there to say goodbye and watch us leave. I wasn't sure how much Chiron told them, since the wizarding world had been kept separate for so many years, but I knew the former Seven, Reyna, and Calypso would be allowed the full details. Hecate appeared in front of the Big House. She regarded the two of us calculatingly. She nodded in approval, though I wasn't sure what she had been judging.

"Each of you, take an arm," She held out both arms, "Beware, this is very different from shadow-traveling."

It was. I felt like I was being shoved into a tube, one too small for a human body, traveling at high velocity. When we emerged, I doubled over, gasping, feeling oddly discombobulated. Will was having the same reaction. I decided firmly that I much preferred shadow-travelling to this... other form of transportation. I swallowed hard and straightened, putting an arm around my boyfriend. When he could straighten, I looked around. Hecate had brought us to a dark alley. The goddess herself was gone, leaving only a three notes in my hand. The first was a cover story and brief explanation of wizarding society, which I pocketed for later reference. The second I opened and read.

_Demigods, _

_Be aware that the boy you seek to protect is the one bearing a scar of lightning on his forehead. He will be easy to find. He is, after all, the famous Boy Who Lived. The Hogwarts headmaster is the only professor I have informed about your quest. Very few of the professors know of the Greek and Roman gods so tread carefully. _

_You are at Diagon Alley. Here, you will find everything you need for Hogwarts. Until then, you will be staying at the Leaky Cauldron. Give the owner your name and he will have a room ready for you. _

_First thing you must do is visit Gringotts. The workers there will know who you are and bring you to your vault. They might make a scene but try to keep a low profile. You will see why._

_These are the supplies you will be needing:_

The note continued to list things that I was doubtful actually existed, but, since Greek myths are real, I accepted it. Will read the note over my shoulder, and noticed another note. He took it from behind the first one.

"This is from Hades. It says:

_Son, _

_On this quest, old memories will resurface. I trust that your boyfriend can help you. But, you must be prepared. You will also meet old acquaintances. I can not say who they are now, except that you will recognize them easily. Something I'd like your help with that is unrelated to Harry Potter is the ghosts at this school and many of them are not permitted to be out of the Underworld. Thanatos cannot pull them back because of the wards on the school, which is the main reason there are so many there. One of the professors is a registered ghost who I have been in communication with recently. He can help you register or send back the rest._

_One more thing, you and Will Solace will each be receiving a wand specially made for you. Nico, your wand will strengthen your abilities you have as my son, and it will no longer tire you. Additionally, you will be able to move things through shadows without being in contact with them. This will only work with inanimate objects or things, unless the subject is willing. There are other technicalities, but you will be able to figure them out. _

_Good luck. _

_ \- Dad_

I was quiet for a moment.

"He signed off as Dad, and he called me Son." I murmur. That wasn't new, but it was strange to see it in writing. Will put his arm around me and kissed my forehead. He was half a head taller than I was, and I always made sure that he knew I didn't like it. But in these kind of moments, I didn't mind.


	3. Chapter 3 - Diagon Alley

**Hi! I'm back with another chapter...**

**This one ****_is _****a bit short, so I'll be posting another chapter soon. Enjoy!**

**\- citrus-shadow**

Chapter Three - Diagon Alley

Nico POV

We soon left the dark alley to go look for the Leaky Cauldron. The innkeeper, Tom, lead us to our room the way Hecate said he would. Before he left us, he stared at us. Then he grinned.

"Enjoy your stay." He hobbled off.

We left our stuff in our room and went to Gringotts. When we walked through the large double doors, I realised what Hecate meant. The bank was run by goblins. I knew that they had a reverence for all the gods, though I had only seen them a few times. As soon as the goblins noticed us, they fell silent. They all bowed deeply. Will and I just stood there slightly shocked. One goblin approached us.

"Nico Di Angelo and Will Solace. Welcome to Gringotts. Your vault is near, if you would follow me." He gestured to one side. We followed the short creature to a cart that lead into an dark underground section. I froze. Ever since Tartarus, I no longer felt the same comfort in the underground, particularly in areas I had never been before. Will noticed me and turned to the goblin.

"Is the vault far underground? If it is, that may be a problem." The goblin shook his head.

"Of course not. Lord Hades has ensured that the vault is near the surface." I relaxed visibly and smiled gratefully at Will. _Thanks Dad._

•~•~•

After each of us grabbed a pouch of coins, which I wasn't sure the value of, we went to Ollivander's. An old man approached us. He smiled warmly.

"I suppose you are the two exchange students for Hogwarts? You have some very odd wands that were made for you. Rather difficult to make as well." He disappeared into a storage space full of shelves and returned with two long boxes.

"Will Solace, willow, core of sunlight and raven feather, 14 inches. Nico Di Angelo, ebony, core of shadow, bone and thestral hair, 14 inches. These cores are very unique. I suggest you keep them considerably quiet, as people may question. Now, give them a flick."

Will did, and immediately the room brightened. Sunlight filled every corner, and there was a comforting warmth. He laughed.

"Nico, go ahead." I waved my wand. The temperature dropped and shadows filled the room. I paused, before waving the wand again and summoning a skeletal puppy, to brighten the mood. It jumped on Will and he laughed again.

"Thank you," I nod towards Ollivander and we left his shop. We continued on to get textbooks, cauldrons, robes, and more. Finally, the only thing left was a pet. We made our way to the menagerie. Will got a brown owl that he named Blackjack (though why, I wasn't quite sure, the owl seemed nothing like Percy's pegasus), and I wasn't going to get pet at all, until I spotted a small black cat curled up in the corner. It regarded me with yellow eyes, bright against its dark fur. I picked it up, and it purred when I stroked its soft fur.

In the end, I bought the cat, who turned out to be a girl. I named her Eclipse.


	4. Chapter 4 - Hogwarts

**As promised, here is another chapter!**

**I just wanted to give you all a heads up, I am going overseas for the entirety of July and a bit of June. So, I probably won't be able to post. Sorry!**

**I think I will be able to get one or two more chapters (after this one) posted before I go. I'll be back in August.**

**Also, I have noticed that my chapter titles are rather... boring. I'll try to be more creative. Titles have always been a weakness of mine.**

**Thanks for reading this far, and enjoy!**

**\- citrus-shadow**

Chapter Four - Hogwarts

Nico POV

A week later, Will and I had crammed as much knowledge on wizarding history and customs into ourselves. I still didn't understand money (I learned that we were actually quite rich), though everything else seemed simple enough.

Following Hecate's instructions, we went to King's Cross Station, but couldn't find platform 9 3/4. In the end, we resulted to asking a guy in some suit. He scoffed.

"Everyone asks that. I haven't a clue why. There is no platform 9 3/4. There is 9, and there is 10." He huffed and walked away.

We then asked a family of red-heads that seemed to be going to Hogwarts, based on their odd assortment of luggage. The woman, presumably the mother, laughed cheerily and had us follow them.

"Though, aren't you two a bit old to be first-years?"

"Well, we are exchange students from America," Will answered smoothly. "It is a pleasure to attend Hogwarts." Three of the kids, one a red-head boy, one a black-haired boy, and the last a brown-haired girl, ran through a brick pillar. Will looked slightly surprised, though not much. I wasn't. At this point, very little could surprise me.

We all followed suit, and found ourselves at a platform where a train waited. We quickly got on and found an empty compartment. Soon, the trio we had seen earlier poked their heads in.

"Could we sit here? Everywhere else seems to be full." The girl asked. Will and I both nodded. When they settled in, they introduced themselves. Noticing the scar on the forehead of the boy, Harry, I realized that he was the one I was to be protecting. Will and I introduced ourselves, and we made small talk about how we were exchange students, and all that. Soon, Hermione and Ron leave to the Prefect Carriage, and two more students, Neville and Luna, join us. Then, Harry and Neville were called off to join the compartment of a professor named Slughorn.

Near the end of the trip, Luna suggested that we go change into our robes, which I realized would be impossible to fight in, but would be able to hide a weapon. Neville eventually came back with Harry, but the latter left soon left again. He never came back to get his things. We all got off the train at Hogsmeade Station. All the names of people and places were slightly odd.

When I saw the carriages we were to be traveling in, I stood shocked for a moment. Pulling the carriages were thestrals. I approached one. The skeletal horses all nuzzled me. Like ghosts and some other creatures of the Underworld, I could communicate with them.

_Master, welcome. Would you like a ride?_

_Yes, thank you. And don't call me master. Maybe my father is your master, but I am Nico Di Angelo._

_Yes. Of course. May I ask what brings you here?_

_Well, long story… Maybe I'll find you all during a free period or something. I'm sure I'll have spare time._

•~•~•

When we reach the school, a castle that I knew Annabeth would go crazy over if she ever saw the architecture (even I appreciated it), we all filed into what was called the Great Hall. The ceiling reflected the night sky. It was beautiful. A professor, McGonagall, identified Will and I as the "exchange students" and pulled us aside to be sorted into our houses. When Will was called up, the hat took little time to place him in Gryffindor.

However, with me, that was not the case. When I heard my name called, I sat on the stool and the hat was placed on my head. The hat was silent for a long while. Then, it spoke to me.

_Hello hmm… Nico. Well, you are very well balanced between several houses. Loyal to friends, but can hold grudges. Clever, but it's not your strongest point. You have good strategy and logical thinking and you seem secretive, even around your friends. Though not too ambitious. I'd say you are courageous too. With all this in mind, I will need more information about you. You have mental shields blocking your memories. Please take them down. I need to sort you._

_I don't think you want to see my memories._

_Don't worry, I won't tell or freak out._

I reluctantly let my mental barriers fall. Moments later, the hat gasped, and immediately yelled loudly.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

_I am so sorry for all you have lost, and all that you have suffered. I hope the rest of your life is more peaceful than it has been so far._

•~•~•

I went to sit next to Will, who had chosen to sit with Ron and Hermione.

As the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, made a speech, I realized what Hades meant by 'old acquaintances'. Severus Snape, blessed by Hecate, son of Hades, was sitting at the head table. I wasn't sure how he was born, with the pact between the Big Three, but I had heard about him from my father and Chiron. He was claimed at age 9, and turned out to be one of Hecate's blessed as well. So, Chiron let him go study at Hogwarts, then continue to teach there so that he could look out for unknowing demigods. I had met him a several times at my father's palace, and he was a good man. When we met, it was pretty easy for us to become brothers, in a sense. We were even close enough to have nicknames for each other. I called him Sev and he called me Neeks. Like half the people at camp.

"Have either of you seen Harry?" Hermione asked us. I shook my head.

"He and Neville went to Slughorn's compartment, then when he came back, he left again, and never came back." I replied.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll turn up soon." Will added.

Soon, he did turn up. With a bloody nose. Hermione and Ron started fussing over him.

"Goodness Harry, here, this will stop the bleeding." Hermione passed him a napkin.

"Bloody hell, mate. What happened to you?" While Harry waved his friends off, I froze, and paled visibly.

"Hell sure is bloody…" I murmured quietly. Will noticed, of course, and put his arm around me.

"Uh, Ron, do you mind not using that term around Nico?" Will asked Ron.

"What, bloody—"

"Yes, that. It brings up… bad memories." Will cut him off before he could say the word _hell._ The three students watched me, but I couldn't really care less. I was trying to block out images of Tartarus' skin boiling, his heart beating, and Akhlys with tears streaming down her face. I vaguely felt my eyes well up, before I flinched and came back to my senses.

"Mate, you ok?" Ron asked me cautiously. I nodded quickly, and went back to eating. I hadn't eaten that much in a while, but with Will watching me like a hawk, I finished a small plate of food.

After dinner, we all went back to the Gryffindor common rooms. I was pretty tired. I knew that I should IM Hazel or someone at one of the Camps, but, I decided to do it the next day. I fell into bed and fell asleep.

**I just realized how long this chapter is in comparison to the other ones. Oh well... **

**The chapter lengths will most likely stay around this length, but may still vary.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and look out for more chapters soon!**

**\- citrus-shadow**


	5. Chapter 5 - From Snape to Sev

**Hello! I'm back!**

**I think I can post another chapter before I leave on Thursday, so look out for that. **

**Also, I have made slight edits in past chapters. No major changes, but I always just revise. If you want, you can try to go back and look for these changes, but they are very minor. Yes, I noticed that I was writing a bit in present tense near the beginning, so that is one of the things I'm trying to fix.**

**Enjoy reading!**

**\- citrus-shadow**

Chapter Five - From Snape to Sev

Harry POV

Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater. Hooray.

I hadn't explained everything to Ron and Hermione just yet, as we were in public too much. I felt doubtful about the exchange student, Nico. Will seemed decent, though Nico… there was just something very off about him. Once, during the meal, after Ron said "bloody hell" I made brief eye contact with him. In that moment, I felt like I saw a glimpse of his past. His brown, practically black, eyes were broken. Shattered, like they could never be fixed. He had quickly averted his gaze, but I saw his eyes. Whatever suffering he had been through, it was much more than I would ever know. Just then, something occured to me. Malfoy became a Death Eater the year a mysteriously haunted wizard comes from America. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. Though, Will seemed ok. Either he was normal and unaware of the other boy's circumstances, or he was a better actor than Nico was.

_They have secrets. So what are they hiding?_

During breakfast the next day, I looked at my timetable. Today, Defence Against the Dark Arts was first. And then I remembered something. Great, Snape got the position. He must be happy. I sighed and resigned myself to eating a bowl of oatmeal.

Nico POV

Thankfully, I didn't dream last night. I woke up slightly early, a boy named Neville being the only one up. I quickly get dressed and woke Will. Eclipse, I noticed, didn't like to be disturbed from peaceful sleep, though she didn't sleep all that much. This was oddly similar to my own sleeping habits.

We went down to breakfast together, where Professor McGonagall was handing out slips of paper that I found out was my schedule for the next year.

Looking at my timetable (in Greek) with Will, I found the class Severus was teaching. It was first. I smiled. Yesterday I had explained to Will how I knew about Sev. I was glad that there was someone here that I knew. I decided to dedicate a few hours each day to either exploring the forest, where I could meet the thestrals, or exploring the school. It was huge, and I would have to learn to navigate it.

Joining Ron, Hermione and Harry, Will and I found the DADA room. Sev wasn't there yet, but I wondered if he knew about me being at Hogwarts. He had arrived to the Great Hall late last night, and had missed my sorting and the announcements by Dumbledore about having "exchange students".

I soon found out, as, as soon as the professor walked through the doors, robes billowing, he stopped short at the sight of me. I smiled slowly, and Will glanced at me. He smirked. Harry, noticing us smiling, gave us confused looks, but we shook our heads.

_We'll explain later_, I mouthed to him. He nodded, but still looked puzzled. Sev blinked and resumed walking to the front of the room.

"Nee-Mr. Di Angelo and Mr. Solace, would you like to share your little _joke_ with the rest of the class?" Sev drawled, keeping his face indifferent, though I could tell it was an effort on his part. Schooling my features into ones of innocence, I replied.

"Well it's more of a situation, rather than a joke. And no, not really. They probably won't understand it," I smile, "Though, you might!" I add as an afterthought. Sev's lips curl, though in what, I wasn't quite sure.

"Well then, would the two of you like to stay after class to entertain me with your '_situation_'?" I could tell Sev was making an effort not to smile.

"Of course!" Will chimed in brightly. The rest of the class was partially shocked, while snickering all the while. Harry and Ron seemed the most shocked. One boy, a lean and presumably tall blonde, I noticed wasn't paying attention at all. He was staring intently at his forearm sleeve, but there didn't seem to be anything there. I decided to ask one of the Gryffindors about him. I presumed he was in Slytherin as I didn't see him in the Gryffindor common room, and it was the house we were having class with.

Sev continued on with his lesson, and at one point gave Harry detention. After class, Will and I stayed back to talk to him. Harry gave me a look that said "good luck", and I smiled.

"Sev, what have you done to the students here?" I asked.

"Well, we are children of Hades. I decided to live up to the title." Sev replied, finally cracking a smile. The three of us just start laughing. We continue talking and joking, and just catching up in general, until Will realized that we were probably be going to be late to our next class, Transfiguration. Sev shoved us unceremoniously into the hall.

"Don't be late foolish children, or I shall minus your precious house point!" Sev called after us. Will and I just laughed. One younger student gave us a weird look and kept walking.

Transfiguration was actually an interesting subject. I was still getting used to using a wand, and I almost broke it on multiple occasions. After that class, we had lunch. Looking at the rest of my schedule, I saw Charms and Herbology as my last two classes. I groaned at Herbology. Will looked over to see why, and just laughed it off.

"I'm sure Persephone wouldn't want to blow your cover, the plants shouldn't attack you." Will reassured me.

"_Shouldn't_ is the key word here. That means that they still might. Who knows whether the gods follow what they _should_ or _shouldn't_ do. You know what, they probably don't." I replied sarcastically. Hermione heard us chatting and sat next to us.

"How was your talk with Snape? Did he punish you or anything like that?" Smirking was all I could do to stop myself from laughing out loud.

"It was fine. No punishment. I think he's growing on us." Will grinned cheekily and I slapped his arm, still trying to contain my laughter. So far Hogwarts and its students were fine, and I thought we should have a pretty good time.


	6. Chapter 6 - The Herbology Incident

**As promised, this is another chapter before I leave. **

**I probably won't be able to post anything else, so... don't expect any updates until August.**

**Enjoy!**

**\- citrus-shadow**

Chapter Six - The Herbology Incident

Harry POV

Charms was pretty uneventful. Nico and Will didn't seem to know how to do any sorts of spells, so Hermione was helping them. When Ron asked them why they didn't know how to use wands, they responded that they used other forms of magic at their school. I wasn't sure what this meant, but they didn't explain any more.

Herbology, though, was rather interesting. We were taught how to handle and repot Fanged Geraniums. I wasn't sure how this could be a real plant, but I didn't protest. I had seen many odd things since coming to Hogwarts.

Though, upon seeing this particular plant, Nico immediately turned pale. Will frowned at him, and whispered something, but Nico shook his head and replied frantically. An expression of realization came over Will. Meanwhile, Professor Sprout was starting to instruct us about how to strap on some thick leather gloves. It took Ron and I several times before all the different parts were in the right place, though Neville, as usual, was already handling his plant.

After making sure my gloves would protect me from the fanged flowers, I glanced back at the exchange students. Will had his gloves on and was struggling with his plant which was trying to viciously attack him with its fangs. It took me a little longer to find Nico, who was standing at the back of the greenhouse, and it seemed that he was trying not to be noticed by the professor. This of course, did not last long, and as Professor Sprout walked around, she spotted Nico. Nico saw her coming, and quickly ducked behind another shelf of plants. This turned out to be a mistake, as some other plant started growling at the pale boy. He groaned and moved away. By now, several students had noticed what was happening. Will quickly abandoned his plant and went to whisper in Professor Sprout's ear.

"What do you mean, 'plants don't like him'?" The professor retorted loudly. Will winced.

"Well, it is a bit of a long story. And very complex." Will said. "It has to do with, uh… his family. Um…"

I could see Will rooting for some cover story, why though, I wasn't very sure. Instinctively, I jumped between student and teacher.

"Uh, yes. His ancestors made enemies with another wizarding family and, uh, they cursed Nico's family. So, um, some plants often… don't like him?" I winced at the alibi, and Will looked at me both gratefully and weirdly. Professor Sprout, however seemed to buy the story.

"Then get him out of the greenhouse. Can't have anyone upsetting my plants." The professor grumbled and went to check on the other students' progress. Nico quickly rushed out, and Will and I followed.

"Can that happen?" Will asked me. I shrugged.

"Maybe. That was just the only thing I could think of." I turn to Nico. "So… is there a story I can hear? Or is it 'complicated'?" Nico winced and sighed.

"It's… complicated, yes, very complicated." Nico considered his answer. "Ok, so in short, my uh… _cousin _is very into well, plants in general. One day, one of her plants, those flowers in the greenhouse, bit me from behind on my shoulder. So naturally, I react and retaliate. And so… my cousin got mad at me, and somehow that entire species is out to get me."

"And by retaliate, Nico means 'to chop off the flower's petals and crush them under his feet'." Will added dryly. Nico went slightly red.

"Well, it hurt. And it startled me. You of all people should know what happens when people startle me."

Will instantly doubled over laughing, and whispered into Nico's ear. He flushed an even brighter shade of red and slapped Will's arm.

"Do _not_ remind me of that." Nico hissed. Will kept laughing, and I left them to argue by going back to class. A while later, Will came back, minus Nico of course. The rest of Herbology passed without incident. Well, apart from the fact that Seamus' plant nearly bit through the glove he was wearing. This, of course, was Seamus' own mistake, and he was lectured by Professor Sprout about how to tie a proper knot. The class got a small laugh out of this, and went back to work.

After class, Will disappeared, I assumed to go find Nico. My friends and I all went to dinner, and were soon joined by a grinning Will and a disgruntled Nico. Nico grumbled something, but Will just laughed and sat down to eat.

"You have to eat, Ghost Boy, or else I'm taking your Mythomagic cards." Will shoved a plate of food at Nico. Nico whirled to face Will.

"I don't play Mythomagic anymore!" He protested. Will laughed again and shoved him lightly with one arm. Either way, Nico started eating, rather reluctantly. I wondered what this 'mythomagic' was. Must be some game in America.

We chatted and ate. I noticed that Nico still ate very little.

After dinner, we all went back to the Gryffindor common room where we taught the exchange students some games and had fun. Dean and Seamus were playing wizard chess off to one side. After a while, they excused themselves and went back to the boys dormitory. The rest of us didn't stay up very much longer, though the chess game was going on longer than anticipated, so those two boys stayed behind to finish. Apparently, it was becoming more intense. I wouldn't know that, though. Ron was the one with the chess knowledge. Due to the fact that it was wizards chess, there was white and black dust scattered around the table.

When Ron, Neville and I went up, we walked in on Will and Nico making out. They were sitting on Will's bed, and Nico's legs were wrapped around Will's waist. At first they didn't notice us, but when Ron made a slightly strangled noise, they immediately sprang apart, Nico falling off the bed in the process.

"The-the two of you are-," Ron stuttered, an expression of shock on his face. I was sure that my own face mirrored the same expression.

"Yes? We are…?" Nico asked, cheeks red, but his voice still carried an undertone of amusement. Ron's face went even more red and he didn't say anything. Neither did I though.

"Dating? Gay?" Neville supplied. I blinked as I noticed that he was acting completely normally, well, in truth it seemed that he was trying to hold back laughter.

"What, you didn't know?" Will teased. I sighed.

"S'pose not." I was quite surprised that Neville knew. Though, thinking back on their behaviour, Will and Nico hadn't been trying that hard to hide it. I laughed at my own stupidity. I nudged a still shell-shocked Ron, and he shook his head.

"Harry, we really _are_ daft." Ron managed. "S'pose this means that Hermione also knows?" Neville snorted.

"Even if you two are a complete idiots, Hermione isn't. 'Course she does. She was the one who confirmed it for me."

"Well, please don't tell her about this. She doesn't think very highly of our mental capacities, and this wouldn't help our case." I said. At this, Neville snorted again, and went to get ready for bed.


	7. Author's Note

Hello everyone!

So... It's August! And I have not updated.

Well, I do have a reason for this. WhenI got back, my computer was kinda dead. Not the battery but something was wrong with it so I couldn't use it for anything. I might be able to get a chapter up as soon as today, though I'm not entirely sure.

Sorry!

\- citrus-shadow


	8. Chapter 7 - Old Memories, Old Prophecies

**Yay! I managed to get another chapter. This one uses ideas from other fanfictions I have read so I'm sorry if it very predictable. I wasn't feeling very creative the day I wrote it...**

**It's been a while, and so here is a chapter I hope has been highly anticipated. Enjoy!**

**\- citrus-shadow**

Chapter Seven - Old Memories, Old Prophecies

Nico POV

Herbology had been… an experience. After I had left, I had gone to Dumbledore to explain my relations with Persephone. He let Will and I drop the class. I had to stop myself from laughing after calling her my 'cousin' to Harry though. Well, she _was_, though she was also my step-mom. As always, relations with Greek gods are… complicated, to put it simply.

Also, I wasn't surprised that Harry and Ron didn't know that Will and I were a couple. I had asked Will to act more subtly with me, at least in public. Even before, I never liked PDA, even if the other campers loved seeing us together. Why, I wasn't entirely sure. I only hoped that none of the wizard were homophobic. That, would be a slight issue for our quest.

That night, I woke up around 1 AM to IM Hazel. The last time I had done so was before arriving at Hogwarts, so I figured I should before someone got overprotective and freaked out _(cough-cough Reyna and Hazel)._ I considered waking Will, but he was so cute when he was sleeping, plus he wouldn't let me talk long, so I let him be. Eclipse was curled up on top of my trunk, with a small scarf I gave her. I went to the common room, where it was empty and quiet. I chose a small corner, before casting a small spell for mist and light, which I had learned before the school term started.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Hazel Levesque, Camp Jupiter." I said softly, and tossed a drachma into the rainbow. Soon enough, an image formed.

"Nico!" Hazel squealed. It was still early evening in California, so I could see the last rays of sun reflecting on Hazel's face. I motioned for her to be a bit quieter before responding.

"Hey, how's everything? Wait. Where are you?" Hazel laughed lightly.

"Everything's great. As for where I am, I'm on the roof above Pluto's shrine. I've been coming here a lot. I miss you more, Neeks, when you are across an ocean rather than just a country." I smiled at that.

"I've missed you too." We continued talking about Camp Jupiter, Frank, and more kind of random things.

"How's your quest going? Has your cover been blown?" She asked.

"Almost. Some plants tried attacking me. _Totally_ not my fault." I grumbled. "Then I had to come up with a cover story for everything. Then I ended up calling Persephone my cousin. I mean, she is, but it's weird. My cousin is my step-mom. Anyways, I am now removed from that class. Thank the gods." Hazel laughed at all this, and didn't say anything.

"You know, I like it when you're like this." Hazel said finally.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You know, your walls are down, you talk more, you're happy." Hazel smiled. "How's Will?"

We continued talking for another hour, before I told her I needed to go back to bed.

"Will would kill me if he knew I'm not sleeping enough. You know, he's been making me actually eat. I mean, I would have anyways, but he just makes me eat more than just fruit."

"Such torture." Hazel teased. I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Just be careful. You never know what might happen. Don't get your cover blown. Our father, the _great scary lord of death_ might be mad." I laughed again at that. Hazel could always make me laugh.

"Goodnight. I'll call again soon." I promised, before waving my hand through the image. Suddenly, I heard something. I wasn't very sure what it was. A rustle of clothing? Immediately, I was on guard. I called my powers from the 'great scary lord of death' and made the room's shadows dance and the temperature lower. Hopefully this would scare whoever was there away, if there was anyone.

I waited another minute, and there was nothing. I went back to bed.

Will POV

The next morning, I woke Nico.

"Why do you look so tired?" I picked up immediately on his general sleepy appearance and went into what Nico, and many others, always called my 'doctor-mode'. He waved me away.

"Iris Message. Was talking to Hazel." Nico muttered. I rolled my eyes.

"Ok, fine because of the time difference. But not too often." I went back to 'normal' and we went down to breakfast.

"What is Divination?" I asked, looking at our second class. We had it with Slytherin. "I mean, it can't be anything close to my dad or Rachel, right?"

"Probably not. I _really_ don't want to hear another prophecy for the rest of my life." Nico sighed.

We made our way to the North Tower with Ron and Harry after our free period. When I asked where Hermione was, Harry replied that she had dropped out of the subject after one class. This seemed slightly worrying, given Hermione's love of learning. They also warned us that Harry often was told he was to die by Professor Trelawney.

As soon as we stepped into the room from a small circular trapdoor, I was hit by a sickly sweet smell. The room was full of mist or smoke from many candles, which I presumed were also the sources of the smell. We all took seats near the front, but off to one side. The professor, who I vaguely recognised from meals, came over to us.

"Welcome. I presume the two of you boys are the exchange students?" She had a light misty voice. Nico and I nodded. "Well, I'm sure your friends can help you catch up."

Professor Trelawney was about to turn away, when she gasped. She stared at Nico.

_"__One shall be lost in the land without rain"_

Her voice had turned scratchy and monotone. Her voice grew louder and she gripped Nico's shoulder. His eyes grew wide. I knew Nico well, and I could see the slight fear in his eyes.

_"__You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand"_

Nico's face was growing paler by each word. The entire class was watching now.

_"__Twins snuff out the angel's breath,_

_Who holds the key to endless death."_

I could feel the temperature of the oddly warm room drop. The shadows of the room started to grow restless. I grabbed Nico's arm. But Trelawney continued.

_"__The ghost king falls where death won't go_

_Within the pit the doors of death are bound_

_Through fury and rage, blood and bone_

_Those who snatched war seize the angel_

_Who in a bronze prison waits to be found"_

Professor Trelawney gasped and went back to normal. Nico, however ripped himself from her grasp and curled up. I could see his shoulders shaking. A pile of bones that the professor had on her desk started to rattle and coalesce into different shapes. Shadows from the corners seeped throughout the room. Other students started talking and whispering, panicked. I wrapped Nico in my arms.

"Nico! Calm down. There's no more jar, no more Pit. You are _done_." I whispered furiously into his ear.

Professor Trelawney frowned at Nico.

"Is there something wrong?" She inquired, confused. She didn't seem to remember anything she said.

"Damn you! YES, something's wrong!" I almost shouted at her. I turned away from her and went back to Nico. He was gripping me tightly.

"Nico, please. Please. I'm here. You're completely safe. You are done with Tartarus." I tried to comfort my boyfriend. "Bianca went to Elysium. She chose rebirth. Nothing was your fault. _Nothing_. You even brought Hazel back. Nico."

Eventually, this worked and he calmed down. The shadows calmed, the room was stifling warm again, the bones stopped moving. The class was still watching the two of us, though they were trying not to look like they were. Harry and Ron were also watching us, somewhat warily.

Nico breathed in deeply, then stormed out of the classroom, slamming the trapdoor behind him. I got up to follow him.


	9. Chapter 8 - Seeds of Suspicion

**Hiii! I'm not sure why but I felt like posting another chapter today so here it is. Right now, I know that there are probably a lot of cliche-ish type of dialogues/scenes, but I promise stuff will start changing soon. Or, hopefully they will. By the way, I'm saying this having already written several chapters ahead.**

**Anyways, here's the chapter. Enjoy!**

**\- citrus-shadow**

Chapter Eight - Seeds of Suspicion

Nico POV

_Why me?_

It would be an understatement to say that I hated Divination. With each line or prophecy, I could feel my carefully built barriers crumbling. All the old memories rushed in and suffocated me. All the feelings of grief, guilt, shame, came tumbling in. My powers just reacted.

I was absolutely furious. At Professor Trelawney for saying all of the prophecies. At the other students for watching. At myself for being weak. At least she only spoke the parts relating to me. If she had spoken every prophecy I had heard, ever, who knew what he other students could have guessed.

I was just walking around the empty castle (as everyone was in classes) until I realized that it was almost the end of that period. Knowing that Will would follow me, I went to the DADA room. I walked through the door to see Sev talking to his class (fifth year Ravenclaw and Gryffindor).

he stopped abruptly to look at my tear-streaked and furious face. I didn't need to ask to talk to him. He just nodded curtly.

"You all know your homework. It is due in two classes. Class dismissed early." As his students filed out, I made my way to his desk. When the last of the fifth years left, Severus turned to me.

"What happened?" He put his hand on my shoulder with a concerned expression. I shook my head, unable to form words.

"Divination." Will answered shortly. Snape groaned.

"Sybill knew about the prophecies?"

"Yeah. Well, _she_ didn't, though it seems she has some oracle or seer thing in her that did." I finally said something. Sev hugged me.

"Nico, by the way, what was that last prophecy?" Will asked cautiously. He recited the prophecy.

"I heard it once. But only after the quest it was about. It was me going to the Pit and being captured by the twin giants. Actually, I didn't even think of it as a quest. Because I was at Camp Jupiter, I had no access to proper prophecies, as Octavian was… well, useless." I was surprised how steady my voice was.

"Would you still have gone? If you knew the prophecy?" Sev asked softly. I was silent for a moment.

"Yes. I would still have gone." I replied. We stood together in silence for most of lunch.

•~•~•

That evening, Severus brought Will and I to Dumbledore's office. The headmaster was talking to Harry.

"Ah, Severus, Nico, Will, come in. Harry and I were just about done here. Harry, I will have another note sent when the time is ready." Harry hesitated slightly, before nodding and leaving.

"So, is there a problem?" Dumbledore inquired. Nico glared at the professor.

"Tell me about Professor Trelawney. Where are her prophetic powers from?" Nico demanded.

"Well her great-great-grandmother, Cassandra Trelawney, was a prophetess blessed by the god Apollo. She was no Oracle, but she had what was called the Inner Eye. In the wizarding world, it comes as a result of ancestry relating to Apollo, though they often don't know it. Cassandra's powers didn't show themselves again in the family until Sybill." Dumbledore explained. "She was the one who first told us of the Chosen One's prophecy. Why do you ask? Did she say something about your prophecies?"

"Yes. She said every line relating to Nico from all our prophecies. There was even one solely about him." Severus said. "It brought up old memories and visions, so his powers went… slightly haywire, to say the least."

"Ah, we can't have that. Must have been a traumatic experience. I apologize for that. We can not have your identities or past revealed quite yet, so I think it best that you drop out of that class. You may take another elective instead. I will have a list of available ones sent to you. Please have your answers ready by breakfast. You are already taking Care of Magical Creatures, if I am not mistaken. Now, I'm sure you all should be off to bed now. Goodnight."

Harry POV

There was something seriously weird going on. Nico, Will and Snape had interrupted his private lesson with Dumbledore, in which he had shown me an old memory of Bob Ogden, Marvolo Gaunt, Merope, his daughter, and Morfin, his son. Dumbledore said that Merope was Voldemort's, or Tom Riddle's, mother, and the Tom Riddle in the memory was his father.

I had told Ron and Hermione all of this before bed.

I didn't know what the prophecies Professor Trelawney had been talking about, but Nico did. His reaction though, was the oddest part. He did something with the shadows and the temperature without his wand, and it seemed to have happened against his will. I couldn't help but have a sneaking suspicion that it was Dark magic that Nico used.

Also, the conversation I had heard the end of made me suspicious. I hadn't been able to see if Nico was using a phone (who knew how he might have gotten it into Hogwarts) or the Floo network. I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the possibility that he was a Death Eater, or the son of one, based on that other girl calling Nico's and her own father the 'great scary lord of death'. A thought hit me. They couldn't be... No. Maybe Nico was Voldemort's son.

Nico and Snape seemed to get along though. Snape was a Death Eater, right? Whether he was really loyal to Dumbledore was a different question.

•~•~•

The next morning, I went down to the common room to see Lavender Brown and Ron sitting on the couch talking. Lavender was practically in Ron's lap. I raised an eyebrow at Ron, and he shrugged. He waved for me to go to breakfast first. I sat down where Hermione was waiting with Nico and Will. When Ron and Lavender showed up, Hermione made a point of ignoring them both. Nico and Will seemed to be talking about something in another language, and Nico was waving around a piece of paper. At one point, his left sleeve shifted up and I caught a glimpse of black ink. He must have a tattoo of some sort there. Then something hit me. If Nico really _was_ a Death Eater, he'd bear the Dark Mark, so that must have been it. I turned to tell Ron and Hermione to meet me later, then I saw Ron and Lavender flirting. I sighed, and decided to leave him out of the situation. He'd be little help.

Nico and Will seemed to have resolved what they were discussing.

"What language was that?" Hermione asked them.

"Oh… uh…" Will was somewhat flustered.

"Greek." Nico said shortly, elbowing Will.

"Yeah! Uh, Greek. We were taught it at our school in the US." Will said. Hermione's eyes lit up.

"It's such an interesting language! A lot of our spells have Greek and Latin roots in them. Do you think you could teach me some?" Hermione asked, excitedly.

"Uh, sure?" Nico said. "I know a bit of Latin, though I'm not fluent, if you want to learn that too."

On second thoughts, Hermione won't believe me if I told her Nico was a Death Eater. She liked the two boys too much to go against them. I was still tempted to tell her so that she could disprove my theory and I wouldn't have to worry, but then no one would sort out the problem. I sighed. I would be doing this on my own.

**What do you think? Please review and follow! **


	10. Chapter 9 - Nightmares

**Hello! **

**So, here is chapter nine. Not a lot happens, but just important for character development I guess.**

**Also, I know that Lavender and Ron don't become a thing until after the first Quidditch game, but I realized after writing this chapter, so I left it how it is now. So, sorry if later on it becomes a bit confusing. **

**Enjoy!  
\- citrus-shadow**

Chapter Nine - Nightmares

Nico POV

The night after we talked to Professor Dumbledore, I dreamt. I dreamt of all the things that I saw in Tartarus, all the monsters I fought, memories I revisited. I dreamt of the people I lost and the people I had to lose.

I dreamt of all the things I feared and all the people I loved. And in my dreams, those who I loved most succumbed to the worst fates.

I felt myself slipping into the shadows.

Will POV

At some point during the night, I woke up. I heard Nico gasping for breath in the bed next to mine. I bolted upright and got out of bed. Nico was curled up, facing away from me. I sat on his bed.

"Nico! Wake up. You're dreaming." I whispered. I saw my boyfriend's pale face streaked with tears. He didn't wake and continued sobbing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Neville stirring. Nico started muttering under his breath, too quiet for me to hear. Suddenly, he cried out. I tried to wake him, but to no avail.

"Hazel! No! NO! Bianca!" Nico cried out. A few more of the Hogwarts students were waking up now. Nico's shoulders were shaking.

"Nico! Come on, wake up!" I shook Nico more roughly than I should have. Then my hand went through his shoulder. "Oh, shit. Nico! You're starting to fade again! Please, please wake up! Shit!"

How was he fading? He wasn't doing any shadow magic. I cursed in Greek. I wanted to give him ambrosia, but knew it wouldn't help if he didn't wake up. I couldn't lose Nico. I had spent so long coaxing him out of the shadows. I couldn't let him fade. The other Gryffindor boys were crowding around Nico's bed, just watching.

"Nico! Gods, wake up Nico!" I begged. He was getting more and more translucent every second. I prayed to Hades and my own father. "You can't fade on my watch. Wake up! Hades, please hear me, this is your son!" The last part I whispered under my breath.

Suddenly, Nico gasped awake. He continued to sob, and I wrapped him into a hug. He stopped fading and was much more solid. He gripped me tightly. After a while, when Nico had calmed down, I gently let myself out of Nico's embrace to rummage around in my trunk for some ambrosia or nectar. I found a Ziploc of the former and a canteen of the latter. I coaxed Nico into taking a square of the godly food, which he slowly nibbled on.

"Sorry for waking you all up. You can go back to bed." Only now I remembered that the other boys were awake. Nico grabbed his cat, who had been woken up by the whole thing and had been licking his arm, and headed downstairs to the common room. The other boys watched him leave, then headed back to their own beds. I grabbed a pouch of drachmas, my wand and the nectar before following my boyfriend.

Nico sat on a couch in front of the fire, legs curled up to his chest. He gently stroked Eclipse as he stared into the hot embers of the fire.

"Do you want to Iris Message anyone?" I asked softly, sitting down next to him and handing him the canteen. He nodded. "Have some of this. Hazel?" Nico shook his head.

"I can't see her right now. Reyna." Nico shifted to put his head on my shoulder. This always happened. Once, he had a nightmare. The rest of the day, he ignored me completely. That evening I had confronted him, and he spilled about how he dreamt of losing me, and couldn't bear to see me, for it would remind him of the things he saw. I had pulled him into a hug and kissed him. It had been a long time since he had a nightmare like this one, and I understood why he didn't want to see Hazel. I squeezed his hand tightly.

I cast a spell for mist and one for light, angling a wand to form a small rainbow.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Reyna, Camp Jupiter." I purposely avoided using her whole name, knowing how much she hated it. She and Nico were very close friends, from the war with Gaea, and the latter had introduced me to the former. The three of us were now good friends.

Reyna's face appeared.

"Nico, Will, hi! How's the quest?" Reyna greeted us with a grin. She was in New Rome, and seemed to just be sitting and relaxing. She suddenly frowned. "Nico, what happened? You're upset. Something happened. Tell me." She ordered

Nico sighed and smiled weakly.

"Dream. I don't know. Sorry to disturb you. I would've called Hazel but… she was there." I wrapped an arm around Nico.

"No, no. I'm not busy. Even if I was, I'd _make_ my schedule empty. Just talk. I mean, about anything. Just talk to me." Reyna said. "Wait. You have a cat? You did not tell me you had a cat. What's her name?"

"Eclipse. I wasn't going to get a pet, but then I saw her." Nico smiled fondly at Eclipse and stroked her black fur. "Well, it's nice here. Only a few problems." Nico started talking about Herbology and Divination. Only when he finished explaining the Tartarus prophecy about himself, Reyna spoke up.

"You know what? I hate Octavian. You knew that. But this is another thing I can blame him for. He and his Sibylline books. Ha. As if he actually had prophetic powers."

I snorted and Nico smirked. We all started to talk about Octavian and all the bad things about him. I didn't care that I didn't know much about him, but Nico was happy and carefree, so that was all that mattered. Eventually, Frank joined Reyna. We talked about how things were going at Camp Jupiter and more completely random things. I caught Nico yawning, then ordered him back to bed. He hesitated.

"I'll be there if you need me." I said softly. He nodded and I pecked his cheek. We said goodbye to Frank and Reyna and went back to the boys dorm. Before I could get into bed, Nico gestured for me to join him. I slipped beneath the covers with him and kissed him.

"'Night Neeks." I whispered. The rest of the night was blissfully quiet.

Hermione POV

I woke early to go to breakfast early. I wanted to talk to Nico and Will about Greek and Latin. It really was interesting, and I envied that they knew it. From the way they spoke, Greek was a beautiful language, and I was sure that Latin was the same.

Soon after I got to the Great Hall, Harry, Nico and Will joined me. I didn't want to think about where Ron was. Probably in some corner snogging _Lavender Brown_. I really hated that girl. She was really awful at times, but at others, she was sickeningly sweet. Artificially so. I didn't understand how Ron could like her. I tried to block the thoughts of the two out of my mind.

"Uh, Nico, if you don't mind my asking, are you ok? After last night?" Harry turned to Nico.

"Oh… uh, just a nightmare. Those happen to me a lot. I've… been through a lot, to say the least. Yeah. Just be aware of that in the future." Nico replied, awkwardly. I could tell that whatever had happened was more than what Nico said it to be, but I didn't ask about it, despite knowing very little about what had happened. Today, I had a free period in the afternoon, so I asked the two exchange students to meet me in the library, and headed off to Astronomy.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Well, until after dinner. Nico and Will had taught me a bit of basic Greek, and then we all headed back to the common room. As soon as we walked in through the Fat Lady's painting, I saw Lavender sitting in Ron's lap, talking. I watched for a moment, hoping that he would push her away. But no, he laughed at whatever she had said and kissed her. She grabbed his face and kissed him back. I stood frozen for a second, before pushing back out of the common room. I needed to go somewhere quiet. Somewhere I could think and be alone. _Ugh, I am not pining after Ron. I am _not_ a lovesick teenager. I am going to get through my NEWTS and get through seventh year and leave Ron and Lavender behind. I don't care who Ron kisses, who he dates, who he marries. I don't care. _

I felt my throat tighten, and I knew I was lying to myself. I sat down in an empty stairwell and opened a book, but I couldn't focus on the words. I nearly physically jumped when Nico sat down next to me.

"You really like Ron, don't you?" He asked softly. I nodded.

"I think so." I whispered. Nico was silent for a while.

"I don't think they'll last. You know, Ron and that other girl. Just hold on." Nico frowned. "Ok, who am I to give love expert? I've only ever been in one relationship and had one other crush. The guy was straight too." I cracked a smile at that. His face relaxed at my expression. We started to talk about Greek history and the language itself. I was amazed that he was so interested and educated about the topic. I needed to do more research on Greek culture.

After a while, Will found us laughing and chatting.

"Almost curfew. You guys should head back." Nico stood and kissed Will. I followed the two boys back to the common room which was, fortunately, empty. I envied their easy-going relationship. Though they were young, it was obvious that they loved each other deeply in the way they interacted. I just hoped that I would be able to find something like that. One day.


	11. Chapter 10 - Legacy of the Gods

**Hello there!**

**I am back!**

**I know the wait in between the last chapter and this one was... quite a while. And I'm sorry. With schoolwork and all, I haven't had much time to write as much as I wanted to. Also, I've been trying to get another chapter out for my other story, which has been unsuccessful. Also, a few things I'd like to address. I know the HP and PJO timelines don't line up, but I couldn't be bothered with time travel or anything like that, so this is how my story turned out. I was looking back at my previous chapters when I realized that, what do you know, Will has an owl! ... I knew that. If there are any other plot questions/holes, please comment/review. As always, I'm looking for feedback/helpful criticism.**

**Anyways, here is chapter ten!**

**\- citrus-shadow**

Chapter Ten - Legacy of the Gods

Nico POV

Almost two weeks later on a Monday morning, I woke to Will's voice.

"Nico! Neeks! Wake up already!" His exasperated voice told me that he had been trying to wake me up for a while now.

"Get off my bed. I'm getting up." I grumbled, and rolled out of bed.

We all went down to breakfast. Today we had a free period (due to Herbology), Potions, then Arithmancy (instead of Divination). After lunch was Astrology, Charms and Care for Magical Creatures. We had also decided to take Study of Ancient Runes, which made our schedule a bit more busy, but that was fine.

Soon, the room was full of owls. I could see owls of all sizes and colours flying around overhead. I found this all rather amazing. I had seen it every morning since getting here, but it was still amazing. I was sure that Annabeth would like it. She would think it practical, and her mom's sacred animal was the owl. It also connected to my father, as one of his sacred animals was also the screech owl.

At this time, I was even more surprised to see a certain screech owl fly over and drop a letter in my lap. Based on the deliverer, I guessed it was Hades, which it was. Will saw and leaned over to see.

_Son,_

_This message was intended to inquire your progress in this quest so far. Though, I do have more news to share with you. I believe you will be rather happy about it. Bellona has granted the Roman Praetor, your friend Reyna, permission and means to come to Hogwarts. While this will be happening, it is still uncertain when she will arrive. It will most likely be before the end of the first semester_

_Because she is too old to be a sixth year student, she will be placed in her seventh year. No doubt, you shall not mind. I should think you'd be ecstatic about this news either way._

_Please write back or Iris Message soon. Also, do not forget about the ghosts. Under the protection of the school, it has been very troublesome to find them from my realm. Thank you._

_Take care,_

_Dad/Hades_

I smiled. I had almost forgotten that Hades hadn't exactly said 'no' to Reyna joining our quest. Will smiled at me.

"It'll be nice to have some company. And we won't have to keep secrets with Reyna." I nod in agreement. Ever since the end of the war, Reyna had essentially been a big sister to me. It was nice having that feeling. I trusted her in the way I could Bianca, when I was younger. Though I would never tell Hazel this, I always felt the need to protect her, as my little sister. On the other hand, Reyna would be the overprotective one over me.

But, while thinking about Reyna's coming, I did not notice another sixth year boy getting a letter. I did not see him read it. Or see his reaction to it. I only felt it.

Draco POV

_Draco Malfoy,_

_We would like to inform you that your father, Lucius Malfoy, has been passed away while being held in Azkaban prison. As you should know, he and other Death Eaters captured in mid-June had been sentenced to a life's service there. All those accused were found guilty and received similar sentences to Lucius Malfoy, but are currently still alive. The death of Lucius Malfoy was one resembling suicide. He starved himself and lost the will to live, making it easy for dementors to claim his soul. This is a common phenomenon, and often has to do with guilt._

_His will will be revealed in December so that you may deal with it without missing any part of your education. Please be aware that some of his will may no longer be valid due to his crimes and sentencing._

_We would also like you to know that your mother, Narcissa Malfoy, is still under close watch by the Ministry, as will you, should you appear to step out of line. Do not give us reason to watch you more closely._

_We apologise for your loss,_

_The Ministry of Magic_

I couldn't breathe. I could only stare at the text neatly written across the paper. There was no sincerity in the words. Only pure, cold facts. I stopped reading after the first sentence, but I had somehow managed to register the rest in my head. The Ministry, they told me my father was dead, and they had the _nerve_ to _threaten_ me at the same time. I sat there, at the corner of the Slytherin table, completely frozen. Beneath the blankness I felt, I could feel anger, grief, and pure confusion roiling.

Vaguely, I felt something in the room change. It felt darker. I felt the temperature drop, and felt a draft. Of course, none of this registered. Crabbe and Goyle, sitting across the table from me, started looking at me and whispering to each other.

Suddenly, I felt like I was choking for breath. I could feel the ground beneath my feet—not the stone floor of Hogwarts, but the soil far beneath. Shadows danced at the corner of my vision. Quickly, and without thinking, I stood and bolted out of the Great Hall, everything—everyone—around me but mere shadows.

I made for the bathroom of the ghost Moaning Myrtle, subconsciously knowing that no one would go there. I felt myself still gripping the letter and its envelope, the one with the Ministry's seal still partially stuck on it.

I saw my reflection in the mirror. My hair, not perfectly slicked back like in past years. My robes hastily thrown on and slightly wrinkled. My dull silver eyes had heavy shadows hanging from them. Small details that only I noticed. But I didn't care about it. Not this year. Especially not _now._

I sank to my knees and started to cry. My father. Dead. _Gone_.

I sat back against the wall with the sinks, my head bowed and shoulders shaking. My father was a Death Eater, one of the most loyal. He was often criticized and belittled me for my flaws, however small. But other times, he let down his shield, what he only ever did in front of my mother and I. He was a different man, during these times. He was never any sort of saint, but h was my father, regardless.

A while later, I was vaguely aware of the door opening slowly. Someone came in. Another boy. Didn't he know there was a ghost in here? Plus it was the girl's bathroom. Why couldn't he just leave me alone? He approached me and knelt in front of me. I looked up slightly but not so much as to let him see my red eyes, holding to my last shreds of dignity and pride.

"I could feel your power. The shadows. Who are you?" He spoke softly. "What happened?"

I was confused what he was talking about and I wasn't sure why, but I lifted my hand holding the letter slightly. He took it and read through its contents quickly. He cursed in another language. At this point, I realized that it was one of the exchange students. I had guessed that there was something between the two, even if they didn't make it obvious.

"What do you know about your dad? Or your ancestry?" The boy, maybe Nicolas or Nico, asked. He seemed like he wasn't trying to pressure me, but was still rather urgent. "You adopted?"

"No, not adopted. _He_ was my dad." I gestured to the papers. Still, only part of my brain was working. Most of it was numb. "He is dead." I added, bluntly.

"Ok, then, ancestry. What do you know? As far back as you can." Nico, yes Nico, pressed. I thought about it.

"We are a pure-blooded wizarding family. What are you looking for?" I replied.

"Could any of your ancestors do certain magic with a wand? Stuff like darkness and shadow type stuff, if that makes any sense." I wasn't sure what he meant.

"Uh, I don't know, there was Nicolas Malfoy. He somehow spread some disease to a lot of people after losing his wife but his wand was broken in the fight that killed her. Afterwards they called the disaster the Black Death."

Nico frowned at this.

"But… No. Your powers were definitely Hades. Not Apollo. How quickly do you heal? Do you get ill often? Are you good at healing?" By this, I was even further confused. Hades and Apollo… Weren't they gods? Greek or Roman, I couldn't remember. Wait. No, the Roman gods were the ones with planet-type names. Ok, then Greek. That didn't clear anything up though. Without really thinking it through, I tried to answer his questions.

"I heal… Normally I think. If not slightly faster than most. I don't usually need a lot of magical assistance when injured or healing. The last time I was ill was… Uh, I can't seem to remember, so not very often, to answer your question. And healing others. Well, I can do basic healing spells with my wand, I guess. I haven't ever tried anything else."

Nico frowned again. "Anyone else in your family with peculiar powers?" I shrugged.

"Maybe. I'd have to do more research." Nico was silent.

"I understand your loss. Not everyone does, but I have been through it too. I still am." He whispered after a while. I looked at him.

"It never ends, does it?" Nico shook his head.

"No, I don't think so. But I don't want it to." Somehow, I understood this. Part of grieving was remembering, and I wouldn't ever forget my father.


	12. Chapter 11 - Someone to Trust

Hi!

I do realize that lately my updates have been getting less and less frequent. Sorry about that. I'm getting more homework and stuff. Anyways, here's a chapter. Enjoy!

\- citrus-shadow

Chapter Eleven - Someone to Trust

Draco POV

It turned out I missed almost the entire first period. Gryffindor and Slytherin both had Potions, so Nico and I went there together. The first Potions class of the year had been brewing some potion for the vial of Felix Felicis. It had been Potter who had gotten it. I had always been pretty good at brewing potions, and even enjoyed doing so, my only competitor being Granger, so I was surprised when Potter, of all people, managed to brew the Draught of Living Death so well. Mine was exceptional, though not perfect. Though, I had been somewhat happy to see that Granger's potion was a complete disaster.

Looking at my companion, I realized that Nico's potion had been pretty good. I wondered how he knew so much about potions. The thing about the potion book's instructions was that they were often somewhat flawed. I had helped Professor Snape in past years with brewing potions due to my long-time interest. He had taught me how to work around the faults in the potions book. Nico and Will somehow also did the same.

"So, uh, Nico, do you like Potions? You seem to be pretty good at it." I tried for small talk since we were early. Usually it came easily, but not today. Nico nodded.

"Yeah, it's interesting. Will is a healer at my, er, school, so he knows quite a bit about how to deal with these types of magic and ingredients. He's taught me some stuff. You like Potions?"

"Yeah. I've always enjoyed Potions. It's my favourite class. And probably my best." I shrugged. "Snape likes me too. Not just because of my house. On the other hand, bloody Slughorn is convinced that I am an evil and absolutely horrid person. Well, maybe I am." My voice cracked at the last part, remembering the burn of the tattoo on my forearm and the mission I had seemed to have been so willing to complete.

At this, Nico turned to me. His face held a sad expression, one that told stories of so much, too much for someone his age. "We are all such terrible people, Draco. Ok, maybe some are better or worse. None of us are perfect. One of the things I've learned in life is that I have made way too many mistakes and that everyone else is that way too. It is part of being human. We are born flawed, but we can push to be better. I-I'm still working on it." I let this sink in. And then other students started filling the entrance to the potions classroom, and so we fell silent.

•~•~•

For the record, I liked Snape much better as a potions teacher. Slughorn spent the entire lesson fawning over "The Chosen One" and his suddenly spectacular potions skills. Today people stared at me during class, though I paid no heed to their whispering. Even Potter also seemed to be watching Nico and me throughout the lesson.

I agreed to meet Nico in the library after dinner to research my family history. He promised that he would explain everything. Between this and my father, classes were more or less complete disasters. In astrology, I completely blanked on the information about all the stars and constellations. Herbology was about plants that have medicinal properties, but for all the time Professor Sprout was talking, none of it stuck. Instead I was thinking: Greek gods... what did that have to do with anything? They were about as real as Professor Trelawney's tea leaf readings that we did in our third year. Which was... completely false. My tea leaf readings said something about great inner conflict and a personality crisis. Then, I realized with a sinking feeling that, for the last few months, that was exactly how I was beginning to feel. It was terrifying.

Will's POV

I wasn't sure what to think of the situation. Nico explained at dinner (in Greek) the entire thing about how Draco Malfoy might be a legacy of Hades and Apollo or maybe both. He also told me that he was going to tell Draco everything. Our identities, the Greek gods, the mission.

"It'll be too confusing and suspicious if we just tell him about who he is. This way, he understands the full situation. I don't think he would spill to anyone." Nico reasoned.

"You're right. But, you over talk sometimes and are terrible with words and explaining stuff, so I am coming." Nico nodded.

"He's in a precarious state. Be careful. I can see how close he is to completely shattering." Nico lowered his voice. "I know because I've been there too."

"And now you aren't. We can do that for him too." I spoke gently.

Nico smiled almost sadly. "Always the healer."

•~•~•

When we got to the library, Draco was already there, poring over some books. He looked up.

"Will, Nico, I think you owe me a very lengthy and detailed explanation." He said. Nico smirked.

"Well, luckily for you, that is exactly what we were intending to do. Let's grab a few books and go somewhere more... private, I suppose. I trust you won't tell anyone, but we can't have anyone overhearing. If anyone else is to know, we will decide when that time is right. Now, where can we go?"

Draco grabbed the stack of books he had taken out already. "Follow me."

He led us to a stone wall, from which he somehow revealed a door.

"This is the Room of Requirement. It becomes whatever you need." He pushed open the doors to reveal a fireplace and some couches around a table. In each corner of the room, there were pillows gathered so that you could probably sit in them and not know that the cold stone floor was there. We gathered around the table and Draco set the books down.

"You know about Greek mythology? And Roman mythology? Well, it's all true." Nico started. He explained Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter and he talked about our own identities and powers. He explained the Second Titan War, but his voice cracked when he got to the war with Gaea. I put my hand on his arm and took over. Draco was silent through the entire thing. Finally, I explained our current quest. Suddenly, while I was talking, Nico perked up.

"I just remembered something! Remember that note from Da-er-Hades where he said I can shadow-travel stuff with my wand? I completely forgot about it."

"Try it. I'd like to see what you can do." Draco said. Nico pointed his wand at a pillow. Suddenly something was blocking my vision. It was the pillow. I pulled it away from my face, coughing out dust. Draco and Nico were doubled over laughing.

"Nico!" I tried to look mad at him, but in the end I cracked up too. When we got back to the topic at hand, Nico finished explaining everything. Almost as an afterthought, he mentioned one more thing.

"Oh, also, Professor Snape is my half brother, and then he was blessed by Hecate upon birth since he was some distant relative of a wizard. So, he knows everything." Draco seemed to think about everything.

"Ok, so you think that two gods may be my distant ancestors? Hades and Apollo?" Surprisingly, he didn't seemed super shocked by this. I guess his dad had just died, so news couldn't get any bigger. Nico nodded.

"In the Great Hall this morning, you displayed powers similar to mine, those of Hades. Though, based on what you told me, it seems like you could have traces of Apollo's powers too." Nico explained. Draco looked down and drew in a shaky breath. For a moment I saw what Nico meant. He was young, hurt, fragile. I had seen that too many times in different demigods, and it ended differently for each. With Draco, I could only hope for the best and get him to fully trust us.

"Also, you guys fight with swords? Why, when you have your powers?" Draco asked.

"Fair question. Well, the thing is, is that they drain a lot of energy if we haven't practiced using them a lot. Plus, the Athena and Ares kids don't really have any sort of actual power. Though they are usually the best fighters. Percy and I are exceptions. Percy is probably the best at camp, then me, then Annabeth." Nico drew his sword. "This is my sword. Don't touch it. It's Stygian Iron, and absorbs the life forces of anything it cuts."

Draco seemed intrigued by this. "Could you teach me any?"

"Maybe. We'll see." Nico yawned. I frowned at him.

"Ok, that's enough for one night. We can continue research another day. I will see if I can contact my dad and ask him. Nico can do the same. Draco, please don't tell anyone or go crazy. Or at least not until we see you next. You've taken in too much information for one day. Now go sleep." I ordered. I glanced towards Nico. "You both need it."

Draco frowned and opened his mouth, but before he said anything, Nico cut in.

"Don't fight it. There's no point." I smirked and Draco looked slightly amused.

"Ok then. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow and we can arrange to meet at the library. Goodnight." Draco gathered the books and left the room.

"Let's send an owl back to Camp. We haven't tried the owl post system yet." I said eagerly after the door swung shut. Nico snorted.

"Wait till Percy finds out you stole his pegasus' name for an owl. Annabeth will have a laugh about it, and Percy will be indignant but of course not mad. Because it's Percy. And…" Nico sighed. "I don't know, I miss them all."

"Me too." We sat there in each other's embrace for a moment.

"So… We've told someone." Nico said.

"Yup. You don't think he will say anything do you, Neeks?" I asked.

"No. He doesn't trust anyone enough to do that." Nico replied. He looked at me. "Will, you think he will trust _us_ one day? That he will let his walls down?"

I took Nico's hand gently. "You did. After everything, you did. I'm sure we can help him."

"Ok. As long as he doesn't get to do this." He leaned in and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around the smaller boy as his hands caught in my hair.

"Of course not." I breathed. "You're my little Death Boy. No one's replacing you Neeks."


	13. Chapter 12 - A Day Spent at the Library

**Hello! **

**Here is the next chapter. By the way, sorry if anyone has been acting OOC. Maybe Hermione in this chapter? Please let me know. **

**Enjoy!**

**\- citrus-shadow**

Chapter Twelve - A Day Spent at the Library

Hermione POV

I was up late in the Gryffindor common room. I was studying. Well, I was sort of waiting for the Nico and Will. I wanted to ask them about Greek, and also about what happened at breakfast this morning. Nico had run after Draco Malfoy after that weird thing happened. He missed first class, and later, I saw Nico and Malfoy talking during Potions. I was pretty sure that Malfoy must have caused the temperature drop and the general darkening of the room. If I were a muggle guessing, I'd say it was umbrakinesis, the control of darkness and shadows. But since finding out about the wizarding world, I knew it wasn't really a power. Dark wizards could manage it, but only with a wand. But it seemed that Malfoy could do it, and, according to Harry and Ron, so could Nico (as displayed in Divination and one night).

Suddenly, I was disturbed from my thoughts by a black cat. I looked up and saw that it was Nico's cat, Eclipse. She purred and rubbed against my leg. I smiled and reached down to stroke her silky fur. She curled up on my foot and seemed to fall asleep. It wasn't five minutes later when the boys came back.

"Hermione! You're still up?" Will started when he saw me. Nico glanced at him.

"_We_ are." Then he frowned. "What time is it?"

"Past eleven. And I was studying here, waiting for you. I wanted to ask you guys about something. Well, without Harry or Ron around."

"What is it?" Nico asked warily.

"Draco Malfoy," I paused, "This morning at breakfast something happened that's somehow related to him. Correct? I think he moved the shadows and played with the temperature. It seems that you knew something or—I don't know, I'm guessing. But Harry and Ron told me what happened the other week in Divination, which seems to match up to what happened today. Then you also said a while ago that you use different forms of magic at your school. Is that one of them? Even the most powerful wizards here can't do wandless magic. Another thing, you guys weren't at Ilvermorny, as I know for a fact that their syllabus is similar to Hogwarts'. I've found nothing in the library about another American wizarding school, but you are very obviously American. Even you, Nico. Never mind your accent. So, this sounds rather suspicious or weird. Plus, controlling shadows and things like that are usually considered dark magic, which is often frowned upon. Harry seems very wary of you too, though I think he's a bit paranoid these days. Regardless, I think it is easy to say that something is going on here. Care to explain?"

Both boys looked somewhat impressed, and maybe wary.

"Besides yourself, do you think that anyone else could have picked up the things you did?" Will asked slowly. I considered this. They were obviously hiding something, but I just had to find out whether it was dangerous or not.

"Doubtful. No one in Gryffindor would pick that up except for maybe Harry, which I think he might have. And the Ravenclaws don't seem to have much contact with you, so that probably wouldn't be likely that one of them did."

"Ok, Hermione. You are on the right track about us. You are an intellectual person, so I think that with enough time, you will figure out what we are hiding. Think of it as my challenge to you." Nico said, then took Will's hand and went up to the boy's dormitory. I mulled over what he said. Only after thinking for a few minutes did I realize that he had smoothly avoided answering my questions. I groaned internally. It was obvious I wouldn't get anything out of them.

I thought about it. This week was pretty busy. Harry, now Gryffindor's Quidditch captain, had told me the team trials were this Saturday. I wanted to watch that. I knew that Ron would be there, trying out for keeper, but that was still part of the reason I wanted to go. After that, I could go to the library and do research on the leads I had found on Nico and Will. I smiled and went upstairs to sleep.

•~•~•

I stared down at the Quidditch field in dismay. Ron was not the only one trying out for keeper. This was expected, but the other person was Cormac McLaggen. I gripped my wand under my robes.

Harry organized a small game and they started playing. The first couple balls went towards Ron's hoops, but he was able to block the quaffle. I glanced at Lavender, who had come to watch Ron. She squealed and clasped her hands in front of her every time he blocked the ball. I looked away quickly. Maybe Ron didn't feel the same way I did towards him, but I could still be his friend. _Yes. A very good faithful friend. And nothing more._

Cormac blocked his first ball. Afterwards I whispered, "_Confundus," _under my breath. He completely missed the ball. I smirked. I let him save some balls, just so no one would be suspicious.

Later, I went to the library. I gathered a bunch of books from the library, and some of them were just for casual reading. One was called _The Lightning Thief_. It had looked interesting, so I picked it up. I spent the afternoon researching the other books, and came up with nothing. I checked out the books and went to read in the common room.

•~•~•

The Quidditch trial results were finally put up by Harry. He seemed kind of nervous with being the team captain, though I always reassured him that he would be a great captain. I had also admitted to him about using the Confundus Charm on McLaggen. He decided not to tell Ron.

Ron of course made the Quidditch team. He celebrated by asking her out. I was almost surprised that they weren't already "official"—they were caught snogging often enough. If only someone would want to date me, flirt with me, kiss me. A certain person. Well, there was Viktor Krum two years ago, but he was, one, older, and two, I never really loved him. I don't think he cared about me enough either.

_God, I sound so bitter. When did this happen?_

_When Lavender Brown caught Ron's eye. _

Nico POV

"Come on Nico! Just come today." Will begged with those eyes I could rarely resist. I rolled my own.

"Fine. This week, but then you owe me something." I paused. "I'll tell you when I figure out what it is."

Will laughed, looking only slightly worried.

"By the way, have you seen Draco?" I asked. It had been three weeks since we had told him everything, and we were continuing to meet and talk about random stuff, whether it was related to our secret or not. I was hoping that he was beginning to consider us friends. Will thought on this for a moment.

"No, I haven't. Though we should ask him to come to Hogsmeade with us if we can. He's pretty lonely. His friends in Slytherin are… Not exactly great friends. Let's go look for him. He might still be at breakfast."

As we entered the Great Hall, we ran into Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Nico, Will! Are you going to Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked when she saw us.

"Yes, we are. Are you?" Will replied for us, and I glared at him. He only smirked.

"Yeah, we're leaving now. I guess we'll see you around?" I nodded and grabbed Will's wrist, leading my boyfriend into the Great Hall.

"Just because you don't want to talk to people doesn't mean that I can't!" Will complained. I glanced over to the Slytherin table. Draco was there, but something felt off. I frowned.

"Will. Something's up with Draco, but I can't tell what. It-it doesn't feel like a good thing." Will followed my gaze. Suddenly, Draco looked up, and saw the two of us. He stood abruptly and left the Great Hall. I stood and followed him.

"Draco, where are you going?" I had to jog to catch up with him.

"Er, back to the common room. I'm not going to Hogsmeade. I have detention anyways." He sounded nervous, as if he was hiding something. He probably was. I frowned.

"Well, ok. Will and I are going. We'll see you around." I was about to turn around when I added in a bare whisper, "You don't have to hide everything. I _know _there's something you're hiding. Secrets can kill. Several almost destroyed me."

I felt Draco watch me as I went back into the Great Hall. I didn't want to push him, but him being so… edgy and secretive wouldn't do anyone much good.


	14. Chapter 13 - Building Doubts

Chapter Thirteen - Building Doubts

Harry POV

It was snowing as we made our way to Hogsmeade. It was nice to just have some time to relax, after a week of classes, Quidditch training, and homework, since Hermione had been obsessively reading and didn't help Ron and I at all. We spent the day hanging around at the Three Broomsticks, just talking about small things that did not matter. I enjoyed being able to not worry about anything serious or life-threatening for a day.

As we walked back to Hogwarts that afternoon, I noticed Katie Bell and and her friend, whose name I was pretty sure was Leanne, walking in front of us and arguing loudly. I noticed that Katie was holding a large brown package in her arms. Maybe she bought something at Hogsmeade, though there was no branding on the package.

Suddenly, Katie jerked and screamed, dropping the package. She was thrown up into the air, almost gracefully, and tossed around in the air like a limp puppet. The seventh year student kept screaming. Then, in a mere second, Katie was pushed harshly back to the snow-softened ground. Leanne knelt over her.

"I warned her! I told her not to!" She screamed herself hoarse, saying those words over again and again. Hermione rushed forward, with Ron and I on her heels. Katie was completely unconscious and she was twitching slightly. While Hermione and Ron tried to help Katie, I looked over at the package that she dropped. It had opened slightly to reveal a silver necklace with opals embedded in it. I stared at it. It must be some sort of cursed item, assuming that it was the necklace that tortured Katie.

"Don't touch it." I jumped at a voice behind me and spun around. It was Nico Di Angelo, and Will was running over from the direction we came from. "I can feel some sort of dark energy coming off of it. Whatever it is, it's very strong."

"Harry!" Hermione called. "Go get help!"

I nodded and ran off. Soon, I bumped into Hagrid, who I led back to where Katie and the others were. He picked her up and brought her back to the infirmary. All of us, Leanne, Hermione, Ron, Nico, Will and I followed close behind. Nico held the necklace, which was carefully wrapped in Will's scarf.

~•~•~

"This is very dark magic." Professor McGonagall murmured. Clearing her throat, she continued. "Ms. Bell is very lucky to have had minimal contact with the necklace. It would have killed her."

Katie was with Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing. The Gryffindor and Slytherin heads stood in front of Hermione, Ron, Leanne, Nico, Will and I. Soon, we were dismissed to go back to our common rooms. We were exiting the classroom when Snape called out after us.

"Di Angelo, Solace, a word please." I glanced backwards to see Nico and Will turn around and walk back towards the Defence teacher.

As the remaining four of us walked back to the Gryffindor common room, I thought about the cursed necklace. It had to have been Malfoy. He was a Death Eater. Maybe he was told to kill a student. Possibly even a teacher. Something occured to me. If Dumbledore was the only wizard able to rival Voldemort, wouldn't the Dark Lord want him dead? A sinking feeling filled me. Again, I couldn't tell Ron or Hermione.

Then, there was another problem. I still didn't know much about Nico and Will. I sighed internally. Maybe I _would_ have to talk to Hermione. Hopefully she'd see where I was coming from before trusting the exchange students too much.

Back at the common room, Hermione ensured that the rest of our afternoon was devoted to doing homework in the library. Of course, she had already finished it, but refused to share it with Ron and I. She sat in a chair reading, staring at the pages with so much intensity that I half expected to burn through the paper.

I turned back to my Potions essay. As much as the Half-Blood Prince's book helped, I still didn't understand much about the qualities of different herbs. I almost felt guilty for using the Prince's book, but I couldn't bring myself to give it up. There were a few spells written in the margins. I hadn't tried any of them (except for one, which ended up waking Ron by hanging him from the ceiling) but I planned to one day, when the time was right.

Also, I realized that I'd have to find someone to replace Katie on the Quidditch team.

~•~•~

A few days later, I had another meeting with Professor Dumbledore. I learned of Merope and Riddle falling apart after the former stopped using love potion. The second Riddle's birth and the death of his mother. Apparently, the Tom Riddle had a cruel nature from young. I was not surprised at all.

That night, as I told Ron and Hermione all of this in the common room, I stopped abruptly. Nico and Will had just walked in through the common room doors, talking quietly. I waited until they went up the stairs to the boys' dorm before continuing. After finishing my explanation, I brought up another topic.

"Er, I know you guys are friends with Will and Nico. I am too, but… you surely must have noticed something weird about them. I mean, the way they act sometimes, and that shadow-y thing that Nico does. One time it happened in the Great Hall, another time during Divination, and also that night in the boys' dorm. Hermione, you won't know some of those, but still! Look at the facts. It's practically impossible not to notice anything wrong."

Ron frowned. "You know, Hermione, he's right!"

Hermione just rolled her eyes at the two of us.

"You know, I've been doing substantial _research_ on this. Ron, I didn't tell you because… you were often _preoccupied_." Her voice cracked a bit at the word "preoccupied", and it seemed like she spat out the word. I frowned. I'd have to talk to her about the Ron-Lavender situation. "And Harry, you are already super paranoid about Malfoy, and this wouldn't have helped. Though, you seemed to have worked yourself up over it anyways."

I stared at Hermione.

"You're always one step ahead of us. I still don't know how you do it, after all these years." Hermione smirked. "So, did you find anything useful?"

Hermione's smug expression vanished, and was replaced by the serious Hermione-after-research-look. If that's really a look she has.

"I confronted them subtly about it, okay maybe not subtly, but I didn't voice any of my theories, but just asked them. To be honest, they are really bright people. I didn't get anything out of them, and whatever they are hiding is really well concealed, no matter how many hints they accidentally drop. Well, unless it's all deliberately part of some master plan."

"Ok, what are your theories?"

Hermione looked guilty.

"Um. I don't have anything remotely close to one. Some stray ideas, but something always doesn't match up. It makes no sense. And also, that time in the Great Hall, that wasn't Nico. It was…" Hermione trailed off. "I-I probably shouldn't tell you. You'll make assumptions and be irrational. —_Yes,_ Harry, you would be." She interjected as I tried to protest.

Ron nudged her arm. Hermione visibly flinched. Ron, seemingly oblivious, continued.

"Come on, tell us. If Harry does what you suspect he will, we can work together to restrain him." He glanced at me, while I tried to look mad at him. "Sorry, mate." I cracked a smile, and shook my head.

"Hermione, it can't be that bad, can it? What's so—"

"Malfoy."

"What? Where? Here?" Ron stood up, looking around. Hermione pulled him back down.

"No, you idiot. He did that weird thing in the Great Hall. He didn't have a wand, either. Now, before either of you explode, I think I'll turn in for the night." If I didn't know Hermione as well as I did, I wouldn't have picked up on her icy tone. I stared into the fire. Of course it was Malfoy. Hermione was right, this news wasn't exactly pleasing. But… he was a Death Eater right? There was that thing with the necklace, and he was just very suspicious. I had never seen any other Death Eaters use that type of magic before, especially not wandlessly. I didn't think even Voldemort could do it, so… what would that mean?

Perhaps Nico was even stronger than the Voldemort, and they're working together. If that was the case, well, I hoped it wasn't.

Ron elbowed me.

"What do you think? You aren't going to do something stupid, are you?"

"No, 'course not." I paused. "Define stupid. Ok, actually, maybe."

Ron rolled his eyes.

"At least include me in your stupid plans. Or share them with Hermione, so she can talk us out of it."

I shrugged.

"We can talk about it tomorrow. Let's go to bed."

**Hello!**

**Again, thanks for reading! I'm kind of just following the plot of the book, since I'm at a bit of a loss for ideas. Well, I'm waiting for Reyna to arrive, then maybe I will make things a bit more interesting. **

**\- citrus-shadow**


	15. Chapter 14 - A Slight Slip

**Hello!**

**I'd like to just tell you that I won't be writing any more of this fic UNTIL I get another chapter out for my other one, about Nico and Will after the Giant War. I've been awful at updating that, so I'm determined to get out another chapter. I write a couple chapters ahead with this fic, so I have 15 written, though it won't be posted until I have 16 finished and 17 in progress. And so here is a... relatively long chapter.**

**Thank you for reading all the way up to this, and enjoy!**

**\- citrus-shadow**

Chapter Fourteen - A Slight Slip

Nico POV

"Di Angelo, Solace, could you stay back a minute?" Professor Slughorn called after he dismissed the class. I glanced at Will, then at Draco, who, like everyone else, was heading to lunch. Usually we ate quickly—Will was the only one of us actually serious about eating—then went to the library or the lake to hang out and do homework. Sometimes Harry or Ron would give us odd looks, but we just brushed them off. Whenever we saw Hermione in the common rooms, she seemed to still be researching our secret. Though today this wouldn't happen. I gathered all my things and walked to Slughorn's desk. It was weird. This reminded me of when Severus had just asked us to stay behind the other week. He had asked if we knew anything about the necklace. All I could tell him was that it radiated a fair bit of death magic.

"Sorry boys, this won't take long. So, I presume you've heard of my Slug Club, correct?" We nodded. Hermione and Harry had told us and Ron about it. The redhead was slightly put off by the fact that his sister was part of it, but he wasn't. "I've been watching you boys, and have decided to invite you to my Christmas party! It'll be quite fun, you know. Of course, I'm telling you slightly late, so if you've already made plans, I understand. But it'll be very fun and festive. Don't forget to find yourself a date!"

The old professor winked and sent us on our way. As soon as we got out into the hall, now empty, Will turned to me.

"Nico, would you do me the kind favour of being my date for the Slug party?" He asked, with a blank face and tone. I glared at him.

"If you asked anyone else, I'd send you to my father. Then I'd miss you and demand you back." I then smirked. "Yes of course I will, _idiota_."

Will immediately brightened. He always loves it when I say something in Italian, even if it's an insult or he doesn't know what it means. He tried learning the language once, but it didn't go very well. I pecked his cheek.

"Ok, good. Now let's go make sure Draco isn't lonely."

When we got to the Great Hall, Hermione, Harry and Ron asked us what happened. We told them.

"You too?" Ron grumbled. We all chuckled. Suddenly, Hermione stopped.

"Uh, you know Ron, I was thinking… maybe I could invite you." Hermione said shyly. Ron blushed and smiled at the same time. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, similar to a fish. Harry interjected.

"Yeah, that'd be great if the two of you went! Though I still haven't found anyone to go with." Harry said. Ron finally gathered himself and opened his mouth again to respond to Hermione's half-offer. At that moment, Lavender popped up right behind him.

"Won-Won! Didn't you say you'd come with me to the lake to eat? Don't tell me you forgot!" Ron looked at her, like he'd never seen her before. He blinked.

"Uh, sure. I'll see you guys later." Ron waved to all of us, and let himself be dragged off by a squealing Lavender. Hermione looked hurt and furious. She quickly blinked away tears, though I wasn't sure which of the two emotion they were from. I briefly placed my hand on her shoulder, with a small smile. She just nodded and got up.

"I'm going to go to the library. I'll see you later."

That left Harry, Will and I just sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"So… how does Hogwarts compare to your school in America?" Harry asked awkwardly.

"It's… a lot bigger here. The things we learn are also slightly different." Will replied lamely. "Also, having the ghosts around is kind of weird."

Harry nodded. Suddenly, he asked an odd question.

"You guys hang out with Malfoy right? Why wasn't he with you at Hogsmeade the other week?"

"We asked him if he'd join us, but he said he had detention or something like that." Will said. I frowned at Harry.

"Why?" He didn't say anything. Then, I had a theory. Without really thinking, I voiced it. "You think he planted that necklace with Katie, don't you?"

When I saw Harry's shocked expression I knew my theory was confirmed. "He didn't go to Hogsmeade. I can guarantee that. Also, some advice. Don't go too deep into matters that don't concern you, because then they will concern you and it becomes a giant mess. I've been in several of those before."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of platinum blonde. I immediately got up and joined Draco in going to the lake. I heard Will say bye to Harry and catch up to the two of us.

We continued down to a spot by the lake where we always go, under some rocky overhang. We discussed trivial things like trying to put nectar in potions and use it for healing. I slowly stopped participating in the conversation, and just leaned on Will's shoulder.

"Um, it's completely fine if you don't want to answer this. Earlier Harry asked us where you were the day that Katie touched that necklace." Draco stiffened. "I told him you were in detention that day, but I'm just wondering… why would he think that. It seems like more than your usual rivalry."

Draco's face was completely pale. He managed a vague response. "Um. Uh, I-I don't know. Maybe it-it's to do with the Hades magic that I displayed. Or… I don't know."

Draco looked uncomfortable for the rest of the lunch period before we went our separate ways to different classes.

We had Charms and History of Magic, both of which were very uneventful. After dinner, Will and I just spent some time in the common room doing homework. Out of nowhere, Will turned to me.

"Does Sev know about Draco? We didn't tell Dumbledore either." I thought about this.

"Let's just go now. We have a few minutes before curfew." I glanced around, checking for potential witnesses, before grabbing Will and shadow-travelling to Severus' classroom. I assumed he'd still be there, since the last time I had talked to him, he was complaining about having a lot of paperwork. And of course, he was there.

"Hi!" I called, causing the professor to jump. "Just thought we'd drop in and update you on some stuff. Ok, we probably should have told you this before, but we kept forgetting. A couple weeks back Draco Malfoy's father passed away." I paused and waited for Sev to catch up with me.

"Ok… yes, I knew that." Sev replied, confused.

"And Draco kind of revealed some demigod-ish powers." Sev blinked.

"What god? And… how? Did you tell him?" He asked.

"Yeah. We think he's a legacy of Hades and Apollo. Yes, both of them. And how, I don't know. Maybe something amplified the powers in him, exposure to gods, having nectar or ambrosia, I don't know, I'm speculating. Anyways, we're going to go tell this to Dumbledore, so if you'd excuse us…" Before Severus could reply, I grabbed Will (again) and shadow-travelled to Dumbledore's office. Slughorn just so happened to be there. Before he saw us, I shadow-travelled back outside Dumbledore's door and knocked.

"Come in!" I heard a voice call. Will and I entered the room. "Horace, if you don't mind, I need to talk to these two students. It won't take long."

When the professor left, I explained the situation again. If Dumbledore was surprised or unnerved, he didn't show it. His face was a mask of complete calm. He simply looked pensive.

"Well, we don't have to do anything about it. As long as he knows who he is, and accepts it, I suspect that will be enough for now." Dumbledore stood up from his desk. "I'd invite you to stay and chat, but I believe we are approaching curfew. You two better get back to your dorms. If not because of the time, because of suspicion."

We nodded and stepped out of the room. When I were sure Slughorn wasn't still lurking around somewhere, I shadow-travelled back to our dormitory. We appeared in the corner of the common room behind the couches and far from the fireplace, a spot you couldn't see us in unless you were staring at the exact spot. Oddly enough, Hermione was doing just that. She let out a small scream and jumped up, her book on her lap falling to the floor. Harry, who was sitting around with Ron, looked at her oddly.

"What happened?" He asked. Hermione was still looking at us. I shook my head slowly, keeping my face blank. Hermione bent down, picked up her book and smoothed out her robes. She turned back to Harry and Ron.

"Nothing. I thought I saw a rat, though it was just that pot of ink." She pointed to where there was an ink pot rolling under a table. The two boys just nodded, too focused on their work to really notice what actually happened. Will and I snuck up the stairs to the boys dorm. Hermione was sitting with her book again, but her gaze followed us.

~•~•~

The next morning, I braced myself for a flurry of questions from Hermione, but got none. Nothing. All she did was watch us. For the entire day, none of us talked. It was kind of weird. I thought that maybe she had a theory, and was gathering more evidence, because that seemed like a very Hermione thing to do. During lunch, Draco was oddly quiet. Not that he was that talkative, but he wasn't usually so silent. He enjoyed talking about potions or complaining about teachers (or students), but not today.

As usual, we were near the lake, somewhat close to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. During a lull in our conversation, two thestrals came bounding out of the trees. I had visited them a couple times, but they had never come out of the woods.

_Master! Master!_

_What did I say about calling me master? What's happened?_

_Monsters, not from here, inside the forest, headed here. Two lions with a scorpion's poison. Eyes of both earth and ocean. And yet they speak like you do, with human faces. _

I stood immediately. I could remember the first monster I ever saw. Straight from my Mythomagic cards, Dr. Thorn was like my best and worst dreams come true. He was a manticore, a monster the Hunters and several demigods together could not defeat. Two of those demigods had been children of the Big Three. Now, there were two of them.

"Nico… what is it?" Will asked, also standing.

"Manticores. In the forest." I patted my robes where my sword was hidden, though I already knew it was there. "Let's go. Draco, it's probably best if you stayed here, but I can't stop you."

Before either of them responded, I grabbed the thestral and Will. During one of my visits they told me that they could shadow-travel, but not a lot without out exhausting themselves, similar to Mrs. O'Leary. At the last moment, Draco took hold of the thestral too.

We reappeared in a dark part of the forest. At first it was quiet, the only sound being Draco stumbling. I thought he handled the shadow-travelling pretty well, but then again the wizards had apparition. Suddenly, I heard a roar off to the side. I sprinted off towards the sound. Past a slight clearing, I saw a a herd of thestrals trying to expand their wings around the two manticores. At first I thought they were trying to escape the monsters, then I realized they were _blocking _the manticores. They must have known that they were headed towards the castle. I drew my Stygian Iron sword. One manticore spotted us, and snarled.

"Di Angelo. We have been sent for you. Malfoy. Your master calls. Solace. Well, it is easy to kill the spare."

I glanced at Draco. His master. Who would that be? His father was well, dead. Maybe his mother. Or he just got himself mixed up in some huge thing. And Will… No, they couldn't take him. I wove between the thestrals, slashing whenever the manticores' tails came close.

"Do you remember Thorn, young demigod? We'd like to take revenge on Jackson, but this is the closest we can get!" A lot of monsters want to kill Percy. These two were no exception. One lunged towards me. The other burst through the rows of thestrals, towards Draco and Will. Before I could turn to reach them, a manticore was on me. _Oops. Forgot about that one._

I ducked and slashed at its side. I thought I got a glancing hit, enough for my sword to kill it (being Stygian iron), but the beast twisted before I broke flesh. I glanced over my shoulder to see Will and Draco running, the manticore hot on their heels. They both ran swiftly, being demigods, but I could tell they were having trouble getting around the trees and roots. I turned back to my own problem.

"The Dark Lord knows who you are, Nico Di Angelo. And he is to use you like a puppet chained by its strings. And Draco Malfoy… if he fails, the master will make him _pay_!" The manticore pounced, scorpion tail shooting spikes in my direction. I deflected the spikes with my sword and rolled under the tail, now being used like a giant spiky club, or whatever you would call it. After a minute of dodging poisonous projectiles, I thought, _How long would it take for it to run out of spikes? If it ever happens, that is._

Soon, I found an opening, and ducked under the tail (again) and launching myself at the underbelly, that I hoped would be softer. Whether or not it was, my sword cut deep into the beast. Even if my sword had not been Stygian Iron, the blow would still have done major damage.

With one manticore dealt with, I ran in the direction I last saw Will and Draco running, shadow-travelling in short bursts to speed up the process. I had almost caught up to them when Draco tripped, and was very nearly hit by flying spikes. Will stopped to grab his arm and start pulling him along, but he resisted. He drew his wand, and paused for barely a moment. But in that moment, a spike lodged itself in Will's side.

"_Confringo!" _The manticore exploded as Will staggered to his knees.


	16. Chapter 15 - Loyalty & Allegiance

**Hi**

**I'm so sorry this took so long... when I said it would take some time for another chapter, I didn't mean this long. I feel like I'm running out of inspiration, and I'm not sure if I'm depicting Draco quite right. I'm waiting for Reyna to arrive, then maybe things will just come to me. Anyways, here is this chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

**\- citrus-shadow**

Chapter Fifteen - Loyalty and Allegiance

Draco POV

I grabbed Will as he sank down. _I just killed a manticore. And saw another_. They were supposedly extremely rare, so I had only seen them in drawings from a book. I guessed that they were also Greek monsters.

Nico appeared beside me, easing Will into his own arms. He waved his hands frantically over the wound, where the spike was still embedded in his abdomen.

"Will. Oh gods, Will. Will, tell me what to do. Do you have ambrosia? Oh gods. The spikes are poisonous right? You can't die on me! Will!" I could tell the son of Hades was close to tears.

"Take-take out the spike. The poison won't kill me, but the wound might. Don't let m-me bleed out. Draco, you know potions. You know what this poison is?" It was scary how weak, and calm, his voice was. I nodded. "Then you know how to make the cure. You could take me to the hospital wing, but that would take too long. A-attract too much attention. Nico, no shadow-travel. Doctor's orders."

"No! Will? No, no, no, don't fall unconscious on me now!" Nico's voice was hysterical. I rested my hand on his shoulder.

"He'll be fine. Calm down. Do as he said. I can gather some basic things around the forest. Take the spike out and try to stop the bleeding." Nico nodded. He raised his arms to start. Then paused. "He'll be fine. Trust me. And him."

Nico nodded again. "Thank you." He murmured. Only once he started working on the wound did I start foraging around the area for some ingredients. A couple things I had to Summon from my dorm (yes, I keep supplies of my own), but luckily, most of the required items were easy to find. I managed to make a rough poultice which I was _pretty sure _would counteract the poison. The good thing was that the poison wouldn't kill him, and only cause him extreme pain, so even if I got this wrong, Will's body would (should?) heal itself in its own time. I was also hoping that his godly Apollo blood would help the healing process.

When I got back to Nico and Will, they both looked to be in fairly good shape. Nico had _mostly_ calmed down, and the bleeding had _mostly_ stopped. Though on the other hand, I could tell the poison was doing its work. Will was flinching and twitching, but still unconscious. Hopefully that would help the pain. I started applying the poultice to the wound, before I realised that the poison was probably in his bloodstream, so what I was doing wouldn't help much. I stared at the wound, thinking. If I had him drink the mixture, would that help? It was no magical potion and would have to go through his digestive system and everything before going into his bloodstream. So, too slow, and therefore a useless strategy. Nico interrupted my thoughts.

"Could you inject it into his blood?" I stared at him.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked.

"You know, when you get a shot, like from a doctor." He paused. "It's a mortal thing. Er, Muggle. They take a syringe that has a needle and poke you with it. I got quite a few of those recently. Will panicked over the fact I wasn't caught up on vaccines."

"Vaccines? You know what? Whatever. But where am I going to find a syringe?" I was very confused by Nico. Muggles were weird. Nico was silent for a moment.

"Will probably has one in his medical bag. I can go grab it. If he asks later, I did not shadow-travel." The son of Hades proceeded to shadow-travel away. There wasn't much else I could do except watch the bleeding. Perhaps five minutes later, a longer time than I expected, Nico came back looking rather pale. Well, paler than usual. In his hand, he held what I assumed was ambrosia, nectar and a syringe. I strained the pulp out of the mixture I had made and put it into the syringe. I looked at it.

"Nico, how do you do this?" I looked at him and was surprised to see he was shaking. "What happened? Did someone see you?" Nico started to shake his head, before nodding.

"Yeah." He whispered. Resuming a somewhat normal tone, he answered my other question. "Just stick it in his arm where you think there's a vein. I don't know much more than that."

I did as he said and gently pushed on the plunger. Nico force fed him some ambrosia. Within a minute, Will had gone still in what I hoped was a peaceful sleep.

"We better get back to the castle now." I murmured. I grabbed my wand and said an incantation under my breath. "_Levicorpus_."

We gathered our stuff and started walking. Honestly, I had absolutely zero idea where in the Forest we were. However Nico did, oddly enough. Soon the trees cleared and the castle loomed over us. I gently laid Will down back at our spot by the lake. The area was empty. Lunch had obviously ended a while ago. Based on the sun, it was mid afternoon, maybe about 3-ish. When I told Nico as such, he cursed under his breath.

"We might as well just skip the afternoon's classes. Will and I should be in Study of Ancient Runes and you have…"

"Arithmancy." I supplied.

"Yeah." Nico went silent. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. Will was waking up. Nico breathed. "Will!"

He knelt next to his boyfriend and cupped the back of his head. Will's eyes blinked open slowly. Nico immediately pulled him into a tight embrace, eyes slightly wet.

"Nico!" Will laughed slightly. His voice softened. "It's alright Neeks, we're all fine." Nico finally let go of Will. The blonde glanced at me. "Thank you. For healing me, which I can tell you did a good job of, and for keeping Nico from panicking too much."

He got up off the ground and gasped slightly, as his wound was still healing. Nico put his arm under his shoulders, letting the boy lean on him despite him being smaller. We started heading back inside to the library, careful to avoid any teachers who might have been roaming the halls. As we were nearing the library's entrance, Will turned suddenly to face me.

"Nico didn't shadow-travel, did he?" I blinked.

"No, you told him not to." Will stared at me.

"I don't believe you." Will announced, then lowered his voice and glanced conspiratorially at me. "He never listens to me. Neeks, I know you love me, but you really have to stop shadow-traveling."

Nico glared. "Nope." He replied moodily, popping the _p,_ and stalked into the library, dragging Will with him. Will rolled his eyes. After a moment, I followed them.

The two demigods—they were really a good pair. Under all the banter, fighting, teasing, I could tell that they cared and loved for each other. That used to be my parents, but in the last year or so they'd been arguing about loyalty. And where mine lay. And on that note…

I still couldn't bring myself to tell Nico and Will about my Death Eater mission. Every time I see the tattoo on my arm, I hate the Dark Lord with a passion. And myself too. My conscience has been eating away at me for weeks now, and it continues. Especially after this attack that seemed to be from my "master". Really, if they tried hard enough, Nico and Will would find out. Or they could ask Snape.

In the library, we discussed the attacks. I was glad to note that they did not seem to be acting around me any different, and Will praised me again on my healing skills (which I thought were pretty mediocre, seeing as I only really knew potions). I kind of zoned out a bit after a while. Maybe they knew what I had done already, but they were just keeping the information for later use. Or they really didn't know. I wasn't sure how they weren't suspicious. Potter was, and I'd wager Nico and Will were brighter than he was. Well, I hoped so. Of all the people who could know, I wasn't sure if they were the best or worst option.

~•~•~

Later that day, just before curfew, I knocked on Professor Snape's office door. I heard a bored "Come in" and entered, closing the door behind me. Snape looked up from the paper he had been studying.

"Draco. What brings you here at this hour?" His face and tone were unreadable. I replied in a soft tone, barely keeping my voice from quavering.

"You know my situation, my mission. And you know Nico and Will's mission. We're on different sides here. I haven't been able to tell them, and I want them to know what I am. I want them to know I have _this._" I thrust back my sleeve. And there, on my forearm, was the Dark Mark. Snape looked at it with a perfect poker face.

"They took a risk in telling you. They knew that. If they knew you worked for the Dark Lord, then they wouldn't have told you, and for obvious reasons. You should tell them, perhaps not now, but soon. But you must be cautious. Don't leave anything out. It's hard to earn Nico's trust, and it's easy to lose. Then, it's impossible to regain. Will trusts Nico, though I think he'd be a bit more forgiving on his own."

"Do they know about you?" I asked. I knew he worked for Dumbledore as well as Voldemort. I was almost surprised the Dark Lord hadn't yet caught him in some way, shape or form. The professor rolled up his sleeve, revealing his mark of allegiance.

"Nico does, though I asked him to avoid telling Will for the time being. As I'm sure they have told you, Reyna, daughter of Bellona, is soon to arrive. I will tell Will and Reyna then, once I have met Reyna, though I've heard much about her from Nico."

I nodded. Now, it was the middle of November. Reyna was to come sometime before the Christmas holidays, which was when I had to go back to the Manor and sort out Father's death with Mother.

"I'll tell them the same time you do. That should be soon enough, right?"

Snape considered it and nodded slightly.

"Until then, continue with your mission. If you do not manage to kill Professor Dumbledore, that is fine. He will die by the year's end."

I stared at Snape, trying to figure out what he meant. When it became clear he wouldn't explain further, I looked away. Snape added something more.

"The Vanishing Cabinet. How is your progress?" I stiffened. Snape noticed, of course, and cocked his head.

"It is… not quite there yet. I haven't been working on it since…" _Father's death._ The professor nodded.

"Keep going, or at least have some good progress to present to the Dark Lord, should something come up." He dropped his business-like tone and lowered his voice. "I know your allegiances are conflicting. You do not have to decide yet, but you will. No one else can make this decision for you. You know where my loyalty lies, and you know where Nico and Will's lie. Think on it. You will know when your time to choose is up. It will be clear." I nodded slowly. Until this year, I actually hadn't known much about Snape. Only when he found out I was a demigod did he tell me he spied for Dumbledore. Which was yesterday. I couldn't fathom how he played so many roles, and yet stay so unbiased around me. I knew that there were many ways I could go from here. None of them would be easy. I'd be betraying someone, no matter what.


	17. Author's Note (no 2)

Hi everyone!

This isn't an update, but I want to let you guys know that I will be updating soon (ish) (I hope at least). I've been using my free time to go over past chapters and really revise and edit things. I didn't change much (at least nothing that mattered a lot), so you wouldn't need to reread everything unless you really wanted to. I added a few details in the first few chapters just to make things better. I'm revisiting my original outline and changing things there too.

The only big thing is that Snape is a great-grandson of Hades not a son. The reason I'm changing this is the pact that the Big Three made. Before I was going to ignore it, but it's been about a year since I've started this fic and it bothered me. So, I decided that it was minor enough to change. Apologies if you liked the son of Hades Snape.

While I'm going over stuff, I actually have the book the Half-Blood Prince next to me, which is actually much more helpful than using the internet to check details. I'm also just revising for character accuracy, sentence fluency, consistent verb tense, and that kind of stuff. I felt that Draco was a bit OOC, so I'm trying to fix that.

While I'm here, I want to reiterate that I don't care about the timeline. Blood of Olympus took place in 2010, so based on that, M&M is set in 2012. However, Harry was a student at Hogwarts during the 1990s. I know some people write in time travelling, but I thought that would be too messy. So instead, I'm overlooking it and pretending Harry's sixth year was in 2012 not 1996. Or we can just ignore years entirely.

Anyways, the updated chapters will start coming in over the next week, and when that's done, I'll edit and post a new chapter.

Sorry for the long wait

\- citrus-shadow


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